This week, a leak related to a Bitcoin cold storage wallet manufacturer’s customer database was escalated when a hacker exposed its true severity. Instead of the initial over 9000 customers Ledger claimed were affected, there were actually 270,000 individuals that had their name, address, phone number, and more made public.
Each passing day, the impact of the leak begins to spread and show just how scary things could get for innocent victims. In a Reddit post, one Bitcoin investor revealed that a self-proclaimed “meth addict” obtained their info from the leak, and threatened to not only kidnap the investor but “stab to death” any of his relatives found located at his residence.
REDDIT USER, LEDGER LEAK VICTIM, SHARES SCARY STORY INVOLVING HOME ADDRESS
Things just got a bit frightening for Bitcoin investors who rely on cold storage wallet solution Ledger.
As new investors come into the crypto space, they’re urged to move money off of centralized exchanges and into a cold storage wallet they own to prevent hacks and establish personal ownership over the property. The reason behind the advice is due to the fact that most exchanges keep assets in a hot wallet that is constantly connected to the internet, making the funds accessible to hackers.
Moving BTC, ETH, and other crypto assets to an offline security device like Ledger is the ideal solution. But as crypto investors have learned the hard way, keeping oneself and one’s digital assets safe and secure, while also maintaining physical safety, isn’t always so simple.
Those that looked to Ledger to protect their wealth, are now finding that their homes and families are at risk.
Within days of warnings going out in response to a widespread data leak involving the private and personal details of 270,000 users, stories began to pour in from a number of sources. One Twitter user claims that hackers somehow obtained their SIM, and used it to access and drain Coinbase accounts of Bitcoin and other assets.
Worse yet, because residential addresses were part of the breach along with phone numbers, one victim has shared an exceptionally scary story on Reddit involving threats made to whoever was found at the home.
METH ADDICT THREATENS BITCOIN INVESTOR, DEMANDING MONERO OR ELSE
A self-proclaimed “meth addict” phoned the Ledger customer, claiming that only expletives that are “loaded” buy those and that if the user didn’t pay a ransom of 10 XMR, the struggling addict would come directly to the user’s home to kidnap them, and would “stab to death” any family members found at the home.
The user, fearing the lives of their family and their own, was forced to call the police who placed a squad car outside the residence in question.
Unfortunately, it is those who actually care about safety and security who have been put at substantial risk by a company that’s entire mission was to protect them.
And while that is ultimately true and Ledger is to blame for the current situation, it could happen to any company, and any customer, at any time.
Because privacy is so critical to crypto, consider taking additional steps such as creating a pseudonym and using alternative addresses and phone numbers when creating accounts related to anything Bitcoin or altcoins. As the emerging asset class grows, the larger the target these assets, and this information will become.