3 Lessons I Learned After Having $3,000 In Crypto Hacked From My Wallet
When you know better, you do better
Arron Fornasetti

I would always hear stories of people getting their wallets hacked. I never thought I’d become one of them, yet here I am.

It happened on February 9th. I didn’t notice until a month after the attack. I hadn’t been checking my account as I usually do because my assets weren’t worth much at the time. Silly me, right?

With Ethereum (ETH) fees on the rise, I couldn’t afford to transfer my coins to another wallet. My plan was to wait until I had enough Ethereum to make that happen.

Fast forward to the end of March. I look at my account and my balance read 0 ETH. I was confused since I saw transactions I didn’t authorize. If I hadn’t touched the account in months, who did?

I started thinking of all the possibilities that could’ve happened, but I didn’t know where to begin. How did I get hacked? I can’t say. It wasn’t as simple as tracking down a PayPal hacker. We were dealing with an anonymous user on the blockchain. I read a few threads about MetaMask and cryptotab users being the primary targets of the hacks. This adds to the mystery since I never used either one.

There’s only one place I could go where people can explain what happened — Reddit. After posting my plea, one user explained what happened and traced the address back to a tweet from Adam Justice.

My $600 in Ethereum was gone, but I wasn’t upset. My main concern was if the hacker also took my Parachute Token(PAR), which I held since 2018.

After heading over to the team’s Telegram, I got an answer I didn’t want to hear. Not only did the hacker take my ETH, but they also sold my PAR tokens for ETH. Double whammy.

At the time of the theft, both were worth $1,300. At the point of theft, they were worth $3,000.

I still wasn’t upset, just a bit bummed about what happened. Everything came from airdrops so I didn’t have the emotional attachment one would have had they invested hard-earned income. Still, I would be lying to say the price climbing higher doesn’t annoy me.

I can’t speak as if I’d been the most secure person. I was sloppy with my security and committed a few crypto sins.

I would use my private address to access my wallet.

I didn’t keep up to date on my investments

I would store sensitive data in txt files

I know, I know. How could you, Arron? I deserve a million slaps to the head. You live and you learn.

Although I lost out on some tokens, I learned a useful lesson. Compared to others, I lost a relatively small amount. I am grateful for that.

If you learn anything from my idiocracy, learn to be smarter. Here are a few ways you can learn from my mistakes.
Watch For Scammers and Hackers

Unlike fiat scammers, crypto hackers don’t discriminate against the size of your wallet. Whether it’s $5 or $50K, they’ll happily take what they can get.

Scammers use slick tactics to trick unsuspecting people into sending them coins in promises of higher returns. You may see them posing as celebrities on social media. A quick way to spot one is looking for verified checkmarks. No checkmark = not legit. If they’re without a checkmark, use social media to verify the official account.

Check websites for verification and only download software from the official website.

Remember these things:

If a complete stranger promises you an opportunity with very high returns on a weekly basis, it’s a scam.
If they claim to trade for you for a small fee, it’s a scam.
If someone pressures you into investing because it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, it’s a scam.
If someone asks you for sensitive information, don’t do it. Trusted sources would never ask you for any sensitive information.

If something seems too good to be true, it usually is.
Buy A Hard Wallet

A hardware wallet is a physical device that is specifically built to store private keys of cryptocurrencies. Imagine a digital Fort Knox in your pocket.

I searched online for the most recommended hard wallets available. Between Ledger Nano and Trezor wallets, I went with the latter. The reason being was Ledger wallets had a history of being hacked.

Although they do a great job, hardware wallets are only as secure as the user. The biggest security flaw in crypto is usually human error.

NEVER reveal your private keys, seeds, or passphrases. Write down your codes in a safe place and not your computer. Oh, stay in the know of the coins you hold. You don’t want to miss out on important developments.

Treat your wallet like a million-dollar lottery ticket. $20 in Bitcoin in 2010 could’ve made you a millionaire today. Don’t underestimate your investments.
It’s Not The End

I’ve lost money due to bad investments and now, from hackers. I don’t get upset because of my understanding of money. Money is tangible energy. Its job is to do no more than it’s supposed to. You can lose out on $10K and gain $50K six months later. If we play our cards right, a loss now can be a future win.

At the moment, my portfolio has rebounded without missing a beat. I can also buy more tokens in the future. That’s the silver lining.

So if you’ve been hacked, don’t beat yourself up. It’s a lesson to strengthen security so it doesn’t happen again. It’s like touching a hot stove. Once you get burned, you’ll learn to not get burned again.

The biggest lesson to leave you with is this: Don’t focus on money, focus on time. The most important asset is the one you can’t get back.

After you secured your assets, the only thing left to do is go to the moon! See you there.
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