Ex-Boyfriend Deleted External Wallet

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Artful Depiction

A second hand story was reported of a young lady who had her wallet accidentally deleted by someone she had been dating. Unfortunately she did not keep any backups of the seed phrase. The outcome is not clear, however the most prominent suggestion was attempting hard drive recovery.

About The Victim

The victim in this case is a female Coinbase user most likely based in Colorado, United States.

She had reportedly held her cryptocurrency wallet since 2017, when it had a value of $14k.

Funds were reportedly held in an external hard drive, and it was reported that there was no seed phrase kept in relation to the wallet.

"She doesn’t seem extremely worried about it but said she’d consider some action if she knew what to do."

"I asked if she had anything written down relating to it and she said no. I told her to talk to an attorney also."

"What do you think the best course of action for her is? They’re still living together but she’s moving out soon. Would a police report even be possible? If it actually was deleted on accident, was there a crime committed?"

This exchange or platform is based in United States, or the incident targeted people primarily in United States.

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 - Ex-Boyfriend Deleted External Wallet

Date	Event	Description
April 12th, 2021	Wallet Is Deleted	The wallet deletion was reportedly "like 5 days" prior to the Reddit post, which would be April 12th, 2021. This is reportedly also the day in which their relationship fell apart.
April 17th, 2021 8:01:11 PM MDT	Posted To Reddit	The situation was posted about on Reddit by her friend. Active responses include clarification that there was no seed phrase, that she was a CoinBase user.

Total Amount Lost

The total amount lost has been estimated at $200,000 USD based on the Reddit post. No data has been found on the blockchain to support the existence of the wallet.

Immediate Reactions

It was reported that "d[id]n’t seem extremely worried about" the loss, but would "consider some action if she knew what to do".

Situation Posted To Reddit

The situation was shared on Reddit for advice by one of her friends.

My friend had her 200k+ crypto wallet “deleted” off her external on “accident” by her ex. Can it somehow be recovered if it was deleted or can it be traced if withdrawn or transferred to another wallet?

It was on the day he dumped her...

What do you think the best course of action for her is? They’re still living together but she’s moving out soon. Would a police report even be possible? If it actually was deleted on accident, was there a crime committed?

She doesn’t seem extremely worried about it but said she’d consider some action if she knew what to do. I would appreciate any input you guys have.

Suggestions To Recover The Data

By far, the most common suggestion was for data recovery.

Deleted from an external hard drive? If so, stop using it immediately. Data can be recovered pretty easily even after deletion if the physical location on the disk hasn't been written over again. Plenty of software out there for this, some free even, but for 200k I'd probably purchase one. Good luck! Without any keys it's hard to prove ownership of a wallet.

Suggestion Of Pursuing Legal Action

There was discussion of pursuing the claim legally against the boyfriend, though this it was disputed whether this would work.

Does she have the private key or seed phrase? That's the only thing that will be able to restore her wallets. And have her talk to a lawyer. $200K is a lot of money and enough to pursue legal action on.

Criticism Of Lack Of Seed Phrase

Multiple criticisms were expressed over the failure to store the seed phrase.

Cryptocurrency Theft Theory

An alternative story was put forth in which her ex-boyfriend took the cryptocurrency off the wallet prior to wiping it. This narrative was supported by her friend who made the Reddit post and others.

Lack Of Wallet Theory

An alternative theory was put forth that the wallet never had $200k worth of funds in it to begin with. No blockchain data was provided to back up the existence of the wallet. The only evidence to support the theory that the wallet didn't exist was the lack of concern noted.

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?

General Prevention Policies

Keep backup copies of the seed phrase.

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.