Thief Snaps Photo of Victim’s Seed Phrase in Apartment, Steals $1.7M in Crypto
The post Thief Snaps Photo of Victim’s Seed Phrase in Apartment, Steals $1.7M in Crypto appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.
In brief A former Singapore Armed Forces diver stole $1.7 million in USDT after photographing the victim’s seed phrase in their bedroom. He spent the money on luxury watches, gambling and mortgage payments. Seed phrases are the master keys to crypto wallets and a major target for hackers worldwide. A former Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) diver has admitted in court to stealing $1.7 million in cryptocurrency after secretly photographing a seed phrase belonging to a Chinese national living in Singapore. 34-year-old Teo Rong Xuan, who previously served in the military’s Naval Diving Unit, admitted to charges including housebreaking, misusing a computer system and dealing with ill-gotten gains in court on October 1, according to the Straits Times. Seed phrases—typically a sequence of random words—act as the master key to cryptocurrency wallets. Unlike a password, a stolen seed phrase cannot be reset, meaning access to funds is irrevocably lost once compromised. Seed phrase theft is one of the most common ways for thieves and hackers to obtain access to a person’s wallet. Infrastructure attacks targeting private keys and seed phrases made up 70% of stolen funds last year, according to TRM Labs. The firm added they are often obtained through poor storage practices, phishing campaigns and malware deployment. Court records show that Teo met the 30-year-old victim in mid-2022 through a mutual friend. During a football match gathering at the victim’s home, Teo obtained a condominium access card under the pretense of helping another guest. He failed to return the card. On December 31, 2022, Teo exploited that access to re-enter the victim’s unit while the victim was out. He found and photographed a piece of paper containing the 24-word seed phrase for the victim’s Ledger Nano X hardware wallet. The next day, Teo used the seed phrase to transfer…
