MadeinFuture Series: How a Russian hacker stole my Crypto Coins

My neighbor, Jim Lew said, “my father gave my brother and I a bag of silver coins. But I refused it.” That evening someone stole it from his father’s house. “We all make decisions that we can learn from,” he told me. Today Lew invests in crypto coins, backing up his investments on a hard wallet.

Hard wallets as safety boxes.

Photo credit: trezor.io

A hard wallet is a hard drive that adds extra security to a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. It provides safe, secure storage for any business or person who wishes to hold Bitcoin. One manufacturer of the hard wallet is a Trezor , made available on Amazon for $109.

Taking Lew’s advice seriously, I ordered one. My activity on the digital currency exchange platform Coinbase has recently increased and after earning $400 in 10 days I was ecstatic. I celebrated by buying $200 worth of a Bitcoin, a fraction of its current value of approximately $4,000.

Bittrex as another crypto playground.

Photo credit: Bittrex.com

I signed up for Bittrex, another such platform with more options to trade various types of crypto currency. This system is more complex and easily understood by a trader as opposed to the consumer who typically prefers the user-friendly Coinbase system.

To buy crypto currency on Bittrex, you need Bitcoins. You can buy Bitcoins on Coinbase and link the account with Bittrex. However the process is cumbersome and YouTube videos that I have seen are less descriptive.

Seeking help.

Lew logged into his Bittrex account and walked me through the intergration process. Sitting by his side, I followed his lead. However I could not connect the two. I searched for “Bittrex customer service,” and after finding no listed phone number on Bittrex’s website, I did an additional search and came up with a few numbers.

I called two, and reached a person on the second ring (this should have set off an alarm). He asked to share my screen by accessing the following website.

So I did. I began to follow his instructions:

“Enter your name ‘Alice’ in the Meeting ID. Once you are done, enter an 8-digit that I will share with you now.”
No Company Logo. No Terms of Conditions. No “the call is being recorded for quality assurance.” The alarm bells kept going off yet I only understood the sound after I recalled the series of events that led to the hack.

I stayed in autopilot, distracted by my short-term gain and frustrated by the technical issues at Coinbase and Bittrex.

Withdrawing funds from Coinbase.

I watched the mouse click on the Coinbase tab. Suddenly, the rep said “I will call you right back.” Then my wireless connection went out.

Something didn’t make sense. When he called back, I was on the phone with a friend.
The reason for the call back was a training offered on Bittrex which I requested once the integration was finalized. My friend hung up the phone, and I called him back. The call went straight to his voicemail.

Two hours later, I checked my Coinbase account to discover all three accounts (Bitcoin, Litecoin and Ethereum) at a balance of $0.00.

I laughed. I have been hacked!

The hackers are identified.

First I called Coinbase, and waited for an hour before I got a rep on the line. The rep asked a series of security questions and proceeded to lock my account, for 5 days. I then received the following email:

Meanwhile, three notifications arrived in my inbox ( I have listed one):

The notifications showed proof that the hacker successfully completed three separate transactions.
Reaching a third party Bitcoin support.

I called Lew and we discussed what happened. “It sounded weird you got someone to answer the call right away.” I agreed, and stated: “I’m going to share this with residents on Monday…do a little Meet & Greet. We are getting down to business.” “You have my support,” Lew replied.

Once again, I googled “Bittrex customer service number.” The following number popped up in the search engine.

A man picked up my call. After hearing background noise, I figured he was working out of a call center in Asia. We shared screens with LogMeIn after an unsuccessful attempt with AnyDesk.

Both applications are used for remote access. The rep then asked me to visit GeekTyper, a hack scanner.

The scan looked pretty cool and connected me to a CIA database (server). The rep identified the hacking activity originated from Columbus, Ohio, with an IP address located in Russia. He then offered to a repair for $200 and in order to report the issue to Bittrex, I had to first pay the fee.

I hung up.

Calling Apple Support.

Although calling Apple Support is a lengthy process, representatives respond quickly to incoming calls when they concern hacking. A rep guided me to another remote sharing site.

The rep walked me through the process, by checking if my Firewall was on (it had been turned off during the hack). I received a receipt notification to my email for services rendered. Unfortunately, the hacker took no such action.

My CHASE account hacked next.

During this process, I reset my passwords, checking my personal banking statements through CHASE. To my surprise, I saw pending activity from Coinbase. My alert notification is set at $125. Because all three charges were below the amount of $125, no notification was sent out.

The reality and lessons learned.

Approximately 35 million crypto currencies have been hacked in the past 6 months. There are close to one billion bitcoin users according to my friend and cosmonaut Nik Halik, whom I shared the experience.

As I processed all of the events from the day, I went to check on my mail. To my surprise, the Trezor hard wallet arrived. This came a few hours too late, I thought, smiling to myself. I went on to research extra protection on Coinbase and downloaded the Google Authentication app. I was able to enable the 2FA (2 Factor Authentication).

Ten hours later, and after three phone calls with friends, I finally sat down and looked at the waves hitting the sand. It’s early fall in Chicago and Lake Michigan is warm. The veranda is spacious and ballroom even more so. What used to be an old hotel in the heart of Roger’s Park neighborhood is now converted into condos and rentals.

This is my new home.

My thought was interrupted by a call from Lew. “How are you doing emotionally?” he asked. “I’m ok. Looking forward to my talk on Monday with the residents.”

Even if I don’t get reimbursed by Coinbase, for the amount of $1,447, I will invest again. I will add the extra security measures offered by Coinbase and make to use my Trezor every time I trade. While this event was an aye opener, my excitement for crypto currencies won’t stop me from investing again.

Instructions for deposit coins to Bittrex:

1. Buy Bitcoins in Coinbase (You can only trade other coins with Bitcoins in Bittrex).

2.Login to Bittrex and click “Wallets” in the upper right hand of the site.

1. Search for the wallet you are going to deposit to.

2. Click “+” next to the wallet.
   

3. Once you click “+”, the address page will pop up, click “ADDR” to generate the unique address.
   

4. List amount you want to sell and click “send” or the arrow button.

5. Take a photo of the QR code and go to Coinbase.

6. Transfer complete! Check both accounts.