Paper Wallet From Ebay Bitcoin Thefts

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EBay Paper Wallet

There were reports that many users purchased paper wallets from Ebay. A total of at least 8 BTC was reportedly stolen.

The country for this case study is not yet known.

About Ebay

"In theory, there is nothing wrong with letting someone else create a paper wallet on one’s behalf. It is a pretty transparent process, yet it also involves a lot of risks. Given how the wallet’s private and public keys are clearly visible during this process, nothing prevents the person generating this wallet from storing a copy of this information. At some point, users of these pre-generated wallets may find their balances missing as a result.

When looking at the eBay platform, it seems there are still plenty of people selling paper wallets. While this is extremely convenient, it also shows there are a lot of risks out there. Even though some sellers, such as the one mentioned in this BitcoinTalk thread, may appear legitimate, it is usually a matter of time until they run off with people’s money. The cryptocurrency world has its fair share of scammers and thieves. Trust should never be given freely, as it needs to be earned.

As one would expect, the paper wallets purchased from this eBay seller were cleaned out not that long ago. It is possible some of his customers had their details compromised, but the most plausible explanation is that this eBay seller scammed buyers himself. It seems that close to 8 BTC has been stolen from various wallets already, although this number will probably go up in the future. Considering that this seller also offers paper wallets for other cryptocurrencies, it is possible the total losses are a lot higher overall.

Even though the people who purchased these paper wallets are also partially to blame, this type of action should not go unpunished. Whether or not the buyers will ever be able to file any charges against the seller remains to be seen. It is unlikely eBay will be of great help to them, as the company hasn’t been too keen on anything related to cryptocurrencies. It will be quite interesting to see how this story plays out, assuming enough victims come forward to file an official complaint.

If there is one thing to take away from all this, it is that people should never trust a paper wallet generated by someone else. Even if they receive one free of charge, it should never be used to store a large amount of funds by any means. There are many different ways to generate a paper wallet in a secure fashion without relying on any third parties. Doing so in an offline manner is always the best course of action."

The country for this case study is not yet known.

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 - Paper Wallet From Ebay Bitcoin Thefts

Date	Event	Description
February 28th, 2018	Article Published	TheMerkle publishes an article about the paper wallet theft.

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

$10,397.90 x 8 BTC = 83183.2

The total amount lost has been estimated at $83,000 USD.

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.