WiseTumbleweed5448 MetaMask Wallet Hack

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MetaMask

Reddit user WiseTumbleweed5448 reports that his MetaMask wallet was breached and he lost either $6k or $7k worth of funds from there. They also interestingly report that they were successfully able to counter-hack the attacker, which is extremely rare.

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

About MetaMask

"I got swiped for 6k leaving wallet open for too long. Never gave out anything."

"I got hacked on 6 nodes. Have proof they are mine. Even my initials on each node. Contacted support 3 times. Generic message of sorry to hear but no migration at this time and can't freeze or suspend. Money came from my coinbase to mm to nodes. They should be able to work w Coinbase to help verify. If you import hacked seed to Trezor and assign a passphrase and pin won't that help even if seed compromised???????"

"Yes...Well partially some great news on that front. Same EXACT thing happened in my case. Someone posing as Black Mamba a legit admin was a scammer. 8 nodes compromised. I have a video conference today w a gentleman out of Spain who helped someone I met. Basically he will put a ETH bot on your account so hacker cannot claim rewards. He re-routes you claimed Strong rewards to another safe wallet per week and you reimburse him for the ETH as he has to pay to claim rewards. You will pay him 10 percent of rewards per week for his work. Once node migration is here, then you should be fine. He gets paid when YOU get paid. Never advance money to these ppl trying to help you first. To note, I have a video call w this expert to helps ppl like us. But I'm happy to have a chance. Of course use a hardware wallet from now on. My email is emk8431@gmail.com if you want further info. I have video conference today 1245 est. I greatly trust the victim who gave me this contact after much research. The guys name is Jose. The victim who gave me contact is on Twitter-@WilksAbram. Just email me and will give you contact info to help you recover your nodes. I may have a sweeper bot on mine so situation is more complex."

"Thats some bs right there. I use a guy in Spain on 9 nodes hacked by these losers. 15% charge and he does everything. Whats better is you set up a zoom call before you do anything. These ppl are insects on dead meat. You need to have technical know how. To launch this yourself is not that easy unless you are computer savy. IMO"

"Yes w a hardware wallet yes of course. DONT CONNECT W METAMASK ONLY. CONNECT W A TREZOR OR LEDGER. You will have to physically approve transactions. Please dyor on security!!!!!! Dont make my mistakes"

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 - WiseTumbleweed5448 MetaMask Wallet Hack

Date	Event	Description
November 30th, 2021 6:56:19 PM MST	First Reddit Mention	The issue is first shared on Reddit.
January 26th, 2022 2:53:21 PM MST	Reddit Discussion	The incident is again mentioned on Reddit in response to Khamil1's similar case. He mentions his struggles and inability to migrate, suspend, or freeze any of the six nodes.
February 10th, 2022 7:27:59 PM MST	Using A Spaniard	WiseTumbleweed5448 reports that he uses a "guy in Spain on 9 nodes hacked". He is recommending that Reddit user HeroicLife use the same service.
February 10th, 2022 8:47:20 PM MST	Providing Security Advice	WiseTumbleweed5448 provides security advice to another user on Reddit, advising them to be sure to use a hardware wallet and do further research on security.

Total Amount Lost

According to

The total amount lost has been estimated at $6,000 USD.

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

StrongBlock Nodes

WiseTumbleweed5448's breach included a wallet with either 6 or 9 StrongBlock node.

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

Despite his persistence, WiseTumbleweed5448 has been unable to succeed in requesting a suspension, migration, or freezing of the breached nodes. However, it's possible that WiseTumbleweed5448 may have successfully set up an Ethereum bot which reroutes the claimed rewards.

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

WiseTumbleweer5448 has been spending his time providing security advice to others on Reddit.

Total Amount Recovered

The total amount recovered is unknown.

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

Ongoing Developments

It's possible that WiseTumbleweed5448 may have successfully set up an Ethereum bot which reroutes the claimed rewards.

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

General Prevention Policies

Software hygiene. Only download software from the trusted official source.

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.