$6.5M Lost After Buying Tampered Crypto Wallet
A crypto user learned a costly lesson after trying to save money on a hardware wallet by purchasing a discounted device from an unofficial seller. According to blockchain security firm SlowMist, the victim lost approximately $6.5 million worth of crypto assets.
The device, meant to securely store private keys and authorize transactions, had been compromised before delivery. Once the user transferred their funds to the wallet, it was drained “within hours.”
“Cold wallet ≠ Safe. Avoid ‘Factory sealed’ or ‘Discounted cold wallets’ – 99% are tampered.”
Wallet Bought via Douyin Was Already Compromised
The user reportedly bought the wallet on Douyin (the Chinese version of TikTok), where malicious sellers had preloaded the wallet with known private keys or seed phrases. Once funds were added, attackers simply accessed the wallet using those credentials.
Hardware wallets are normally considered the safest method for storing crypto. But if the seed phrase is not generated privately by the user, security is effectively nonexistent.
Experts Warn Against Buying Unofficial Devices
SlowMist’s Partner and Chief Information Security Officer, known as 23pds on X (formerly Twitter), issued a sharp warning to the crypto community:
“Don’t gamble your entire fortune on a ‘wallet’ that’s a few hundred bucks cheaper – that’s not saving money, it’s throwing your life away!”
Experts urge all users to only buy hardware wallets from official sources and to initialize them manually from scratch to avoid tampered devices.
Funds Laundered Via Darknet Within Hours
A user on X, identifying as a friend of the victim, reported that the stolen funds were quickly laundered through a darknet marketplace shortly after the theft occurred.
This incident highlights growing risks in the hardware wallet supply chain. Earlier this year, Kaspersky researchers found malware that targeted Android phones to steal sensitive crypto-related data — further confirming that attackers are expanding both software and hardware attack vectors.
