1

I fell for a bitcoin scam and I would like to undestand what are the risk associated to it. i established contact with scammer on instgram he convinced me to join the mining pool i had to create a new blockchain wallet and deposit founds and send them to one of the addresses he gave me. I still have access to that wallet but I dont use it anymore for my transactions. after that intese experience I decided to research the crypto space more deeply and do it by myself instead of relying and giving trust to random people that promise gains. That was a huge mistake, I am ashamed of what I did and this is my intent undestand more,and don't forget that mistake. I lost my money but i also lost the keys of my blockchain wallet. what should i do ?

enter image description here

I did the account as they asked and money where in the account, but I couldn't access them. after i realized that they sent me this :Hello Sir,

We noticed that you want to make withdrawal in your account. Due to the irregularities encountered from your wallet ,there has been a glitch in the withdrawals process, you will need to pay for tax of %10 percent of your money in your account now to be able to with your money fully. Thank you.

after that which i didn't do i realized that the website they linked me, and asked me to create a profile, in order to complete the withdrawal was asking to put my bank details to complete the deposit.

At that point, I stopped and I never shared any of my bank details. we kept talking he tried to get more money from me and i tried to get my money back, now he is gone blocked me on whatsup.

Was this website a strategy to get my bank account?Can be a way to create a backdoor access? My biggest fear is that I don't understand if there is a larger scam happening or their only goal was to get my money? if so why did they needed my blockchain account?

Improve this question

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
1

To be completely safe, you should throw away every piece of information and data to do with the old wallets used or accessed by the scammer. user-ids, passwords, recovery phrases, backups, keys, addresses and anything else that is related to anything the scammer had access to.

Those wallets and the keys in them are forever unsafe. Even if you reset passwords, change 2FA or do anything else they are still unsafe forever.

In those circumstances I would assume the scammer also has back-door access to any computers or phones or other devices that you, or anyone else in your house owned at the time of the scam.

I would back up any important data (photos, email, other documents) and wipe those devices clean and reinstall the operating systems then sell them.

I would only create a new wallet using reliable sources on a new computer or phone that has never been used on the same local network as any of the devices owned at the time of the scam.

This may seem extreme and it may be unlikely that all of it is necessary in your case. But you don't know for certain. The only way to be sure is to take extreme measures so far as you are able and/or live with the remaining risk.

If you are 100% certain the scammer never persuaded you to install software and never used remote access to share a screen to help you, then your devices might be OK, but you need to be certain.

Postscript:

Typically, potential investors are prompted to fill in an online contact form and then encouraged over the phone to set up a cryptocurrency wallet - but unknown to them the scammer installs remote access software on their device, granting them access to it as well.

From https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-57267199 2021-05-27

Improve this answer
3
  • Thank you very much for the exhaustive answer. What do you mean by every piece of information?I have some questions regarding the back-door access how is it possible? How did they gain access to my devices? The scammers convinced me to share the wallet address, they gained my trust
    – Casio_1
    Commented May 21, 2021 at 21:14
  • I have never shared the screen live, I only sent screenshots. the only information I gave the scammer was the password and wallet Id of my blockchain wallet and my phone number and my email address. the only thing that comes to my mind is an email he sent me, it had a link necessary to see my "gains" he was asking for another deposit, and to demonstrate that the deposit would be worth it, he wanted to show me the balance on this account
    – Casio_1
    Commented May 21, 2021 at 22:17
  • I have update my answer to address the comments.
    – RedGrittyBrick
    Commented May 22, 2021 at 12:09
0

Don't use the same computer for any financial stuff incl. Bitcoin anymore unless it's setup with a fresh OS. But against other advises you should save all data on a stick you might need the evidences for the time when the scammer is caught. If you have another computer just use the other one until this case is close. And it's the right thing to get better educated about bitcoin and security stuff. There is no need to get help of a person to do any bitcoin transactions. If the amount was not very low it might make sense tracing the scammer until cashout at exchanges. I have the right analytical software to do this. If you know the BTC address where your bitcoin were sent to send me a message and I'll do a quick check if it's traceable yet or if you need to be patient. E.g. if the scammer didn't move the coins yet then you need to wait. So for this it's important that you know the BTC address or transaction id.

Good luck in claiming the funds back from the scammer!

Improve this answer
3
  • yes, I realized that too late, I really appreciate the help and assistance. I have currently accepted my loss. I would like to know what kind of analytical software you are able to run, what are they? what kind of advantages does this research research provide? The addresses given by the scammer to receive my funds were multiples. In the compromised blockchain wallet are registered the transactions I did. There no founds and no activity.
    – Casio_1
    Commented May 22, 2021 at 19:22
  • If at least one BTC address of the scammer is known or alternatively the transaction where the funds left your wallet then our tool (see my profile) or other similar tools are doing a search for other addresses belonging very likely to the same person. Then for wach address in this group the outgoing bitcoin transactions are traced to see if some of them end at an exchange. If not then it's too early and one need to wait, If yes then you'd need to report it to police, they can ask the exchange about threir client which is likely the scammer and claiming the bitcoin can start.
    – tempo
    Commented May 23, 2021 at 16:31
  • Thanks tempo, I have accepted my loss- I am not going to run behind those money, because I believe they are gone for ever. What I want to make sure is that there are no other risks associated with the fact that the wallet address is shared with a scammer. Like what they can do with it ? I’ll never send money again or receive on that address.
    – Casio_1
    Commented May 24, 2021 at 17:42

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.