Scammers are Selling Fake Crypto Wallets that Can Steal Coins | Ledger Customers Targeted

Urian B., Tech Times 18 June 2021, 11:06 pm

Scammers are selling fake crypto wallets that steal users coins instead of store them! The fake hardware wallets are being sold to Ledger customers in an attempt for thieves to steal cryptocurrency from the users' Bitcoin wallets.

Fake 'Ledger' Crypto Wallets

According to Bleeping Computer, a Reddit user going by the name of "jjrand" recently posted on the site and explained how they were able to receive a Ledger Nano X hardware wallet directly in the mail. It was noted that the shrink-wrapped package even had the company's logo in order to look more legit. It also contained an installation manual as well.

Jjrand, however, did not order any package from the company. The package contained a suspicious letter from Pascal Gauthier, Ledger CEO, explaining the replacement device was actually sent out after a data breach that ultimately led to consumers being allegedly exposed.

Phishing Scam and Crypto Theft

According to TechRadar, the note read that for security reasons, they have sent users a new device to switch to in order to keep their money safe. It was also stated that there is a manual to follow inside the box and for that particular reason, they have ultimately changed their device structure.

After users experienced massive data breaches in July, Ledger customers became targets of a number of phishing scams. For example, back in December 2020, the company's own customers were all targeted by a large-scale phishing campaign which made use of fake data breach notifications to make users download a fake Ledger Live app.

Ledger Warns Against Desktop App

The mobile version of the app in the links was real. The desktop version, however, was not. If users installed the desktop version, the "app" would then make users enter their recovery phrase as well as their secret passphrase to gain access directly to their wallet and end up stealing their crypto.

The ongoing phishing campaigns have actually become so frequent that Ledger themselves created an official list on its website to keep track of all of them. Matt Johnson, Ledger's chief information security officer, gave a statement to TechRadar Pro regarding the details of the scam.

Where to Find Ledger Announcements

According to his statement, the company is aware of the scam which is why they made a list of malicious attacks on their website. Users should remain suspicious if ever they are going to receive free products in the mail that they did not officially order or get contacted by the Ledger support team.

Ledger will never ask its users to share their 24-word recovery phrase in any way. It was also stated that finally, Ledger communicates security through the means of Ledger Live and never by phone or mail. Cryptocurrency owners are now being targeted by cybercriminals all wishing to steal users' funds through the use of either phishing links or fake crypto wallets.

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Written by Urian B.