MyMonero Fake Google Play Wallet

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MyMonero

A Monero user lost a significant sum of 237.93370507 XMR after accidentally deciding to use the wrong version of the MyMonero client on their Android phone. The fraudulent application appeared to be a legitimate wallet but actually had a backdoor allowing the funds to be taken. Given the untraceability of Monero and the irreversibility of the blockchain, recovering the lost funds is likely impossible.

This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.

About MyMonero

"MyMonero [is t]he simplest way to use the next-generation private digital currency Monero, at the sweet spot between security, convenience, and features."

"MyMonero is a secure, easy to use light weight GUI web wallet just like MyEtherWallet. It provides a nice interface that broadcasts all your transaction details instantly. To use this wallet you don’t need to run a full node, it’s a web wallet so just your private login key is all you need to access your wallet. This is not a third party wallet, it is developed and run by a Monero core team member. Also it is probably the most intuitive GUI wallet available for Monero currently and is available in 4 languages such as English, Portuguese, Spanish and Japanese."

"MyMonero was founded in 2014 by Monero project steward Riccardo Spagni (aka fluffypony) and was developed with the assistance of the Monero Core Team. Our developers are Monero core contributors and our apps are all open source on GitHub."

"Your app data is saved locally under strong encryption and only your "view key" is shared with the server. We keep no logs. You can also connect to your own server under Preferences."

"We put design first and ironed out the technical details of using digital money, so you can get back to business."

"There's no Monero blockchain node to run. The MyMonero server does the heavy lifting for free. Forget spending days syncing the blockchain from your phone while waiting in line to pay for coffee. Get your entire transfer history instantly on any device with only your seed words."

"Send funds from anywhere, to anywhere, anytime. No bank fees, no processing delays, no holds—ever. MyMonero is safe and secure. The server can't withdraw funds on your behalf because your spend key never leaves your computer."

"One Monero user from Chinese community had been hacked 237.9xmr by fake Google play Mymonero wallet."

"He was so grieved and gave me his seeds, let me check everything as proofs to believe him, he keep the coin since September 2019 and didn’t moved, but now all gone."

"Monero is heartbroken . After checking, Monero user @ Mr. Bai likes to eat sweet potatoes and 237.9 XMR coins have been stolen. So once again, the alert was raised, the day before yesterday on the Monero community Reddit forum, Ricardo and another developer Serhack posted that it is believed that a group of people who used to make a fake MyEtherWallet wallet scam, made a fake Mymonero wallet and uploaded it to the Google Play Store , the software is still in the Google Store application list, this software is not developed by the Monero community or Mymonero, it is developed by a scam gang called Mymonero (dot) IO, and has a backdoor, a community member of our community on August 12 I downloaded the wallet and imported the key information on August 22. Today, on August 22, I found that 237.93 Monero coins were transferred from the wallet on August 16."

"[T]his was taken down about 2 days after it was posted in this sub and presumably everyone started reporting it." "The app I believe popped up in the store on the 16 of August. So it was up for a few days before we became aware of the app. Was taken down within hours of us reporting it to the play store."

"Now we need to expand spread the message, first of all do not download the Android version of Mymonero wallet in the Google store, or anywhere , If you have downloaded the Android version, delete it as soon as possible, and transfer your own coins. Second report to google store, report linkweb link . Third, if you have the ability, please contact OK Huobi Binance and other exchanges to check whether the txid to be paid belongs to the exchange, and whether there are legal workers who can provide help and support to this friend, and ask for it from the Google Store. Compensation, the victim said that once the loss can be recovered, they are willing to pay and thank them."

This is a global/international case not involving a specific country.

The background of the exchange platform, service, or individuals involved, as it would have been seen or understood at the time of the events.

Include:

• Known history of when and how the service was started.
• What problems does the company or service claim to solve?
• What marketing materials were used by the firm or business?
• Audits performed, and excerpts that may have been included.
• Business registration documents shown (fake or legitimate).
• How were people recruited to participate?
• Public warnings and announcements prior to the event.

Don't Include:

• Any wording which directly states or implies that the business is/was illegitimate, or that a vulnerability existed.
• Anything that wasn't reasonably knowable at the time of the event.

There could be more than one section here. If the same platform is involved with multiple incidents, then it can be linked to a main article page.

The Reality

This sections is included if a case involved deception or information that was unknown at the time. Examples include:

• When the service was actually started (if different than the "official story").
• Who actually ran a service and their own personal history.
• How the service was structured behind the scenes. (For example, there was no "trading bot".)
• Details of what audits reported and how vulnerabilities were missed during auditing.

What Happened

The specific events of the loss and how it came about. What actually happened to cause the loss and some of the events leading up to it.

Key Event Timeline - MyMonero Fake Google Play Wallet

Date	Event	Description
August 15th, 2020 2:57:22 PM MDT	Main Event	Expand this into a brief description of what happened and the impact. If multiple lines are necessary, add them here.

Technical Details

This section includes specific detailed technical analysis of any security breaches which happened. What specific software vulnerabilities contributed to the problem and how were they exploited?

Total Amount Lost

The total amount lost has been estimated at $22,000 USD.

How much was lost and how was it calculated? If there are conflicting reports, which are accurate and where does the discrepancy lie?

Immediate Reactions

How did the various parties involved (firm, platform, management, and/or affected individual(s)) deal with the events? Were services shut down? Were announcements made? Were groups formed?

Ultimate Outcome

What was the end result? Was any investigation done? Were any individuals prosecuted? Was there a lawsuit? Was any tracing done?

Total Amount Recovered

There do not appear to have been any funds recovered in this case.

What funds were recovered? What funds were reimbursed for those affected users?

Ongoing Developments

What parts of this case are still remaining to be concluded?

Individual Prevention Policies

No specific policies for individual prevention have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as an individual, check our Prevention Policies for Individuals guide.

Platform Prevention Policies

Policies for platforms to take to prevent this situation have not yet been selected in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as a financial service, check our Prevention Policies for Platforms guide.

Regulatory Prevention Policies

No specific regulatory policies have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of regulatory policies that can prevent loss, check our Prevention Policies for Regulators guide.