At 3 a.m., I was dreaming about my assets doubling while hugging my pillow, when suddenly I was startled awake by a series of urgent phone rings. Upon answering, I heard my brother Lao Wang on the other end, crying and shouting, 'I'm finished! 3 million is gone! Just in a second!'
I suddenly woke up, all drowsiness gone—after 8 years of struggling in the crypto circle, I've seen too many tragedies of assets going to zero, but when it happens to someone close, that suffocating feeling still strikes to the heart. What made me break into a cold sweat even more is that this time it wasn't a stolen private key, it wasn't a platform collapse, but rather the phone we hold in our hands every day has become the hacker's 'inside man'!
Let’s review this suffocating operation. Lao Wang's experience is a textbook example of what not to do in the crypto circle. After watching, please don’t laugh; quickly check yourself against this!
The cause of the incident is quite ordinary: Lao Wang has been busy watching the market lately and didn’t have time to handle asset transfers, so he took a screenshot of his 12 mnemonic phrases and sent it to his wife via WeChat to help with the transfer. He happily told me, 'It's convenient for the family to work together,' but as a result, this screenshot became the hacker's 'withdrawal password.'
Do you think that once you send a screenshot on WeChat, there’s nothing to worry about? Wrong! I’ve said it before: WeChat is a chat tool, not an encrypted asset safe! Lao Wang’s screenshot was sent out for two minutes, and it was automatically backed up by WeChat, synchronized to the phone album, and automatically saved to Xiaomi Cloud Drive, which is equivalent to splitting 'cash' into three parts, all laid out in the open.
What’s even more deadly is that six months ago, Lao Wang installed a finance plugin of unknown origin on his phone to see the so-called 'market analysis'—this is the timed bomb planted by hackers! That plugin has been secretly monitoring the clipboard in the background; once it captures content related to the mnemonic phrase, it directly synchronizes it to the hacker. After obtaining the mnemonic phrase, the hacker quickly imported it into the official wallet from a remote location, instantly transferring 3 million mainstream stablecoins, leaving only a string of 'instant transfer' records on the blockchain, with no chance to trace it.
If plugins are the 'inside job', then the WiFi at Lao Wang's house, which hasn’t been changed in three years, is the hacker's 'green channel'. I asked him what the WiFi password was, and he said, 'It's simple and easy to remember, I just use the default admin/admin.' I almost laughed out loud at that moment—wasn’t that just handing the hacker the key?
The hacker remotely logged into the router using the default password, directly pushed a malicious plugin update, and stole all screenshots cached on the phone, all within 30 seconds, without even getting close to Lao Wang's doorstep. Just think about it: the home you think is secure is actually a defenseless vegetable garden in the eyes of hackers!
I must insert my core viewpoint here: survival in the crypto circle is not about who makes money quickly, but who lasts longer. Many beginners always think 'asset theft is a low-probability event', and take photos of their mnemonic phrases, send them via WeChat, store them in cloud drives, or even set their WiFi password to 123456. In my opinion, these actions are no different from shouting 'come steal my cash' in a night market!
Especially when family members operate on your behalf, many people fall into pitfalls! Do you think just saying to your family 'help me transfer some money' is enough? But for family members who don't understand encrypted assets, the mnemonic phrase is just a string of meaningless English words; they have no idea that this string of words equals hundreds of thousands or even millions in cash.
Let me emphasize: family members can operate on your behalf, but three conditions must be met—confirm the operator via video throughout the process, verify the last four digits of the address before the transfer, and take a screenshot immediately after the transfer to keep a record. Missing any step is unacceptable! Don’t complain about it being troublesome; the trouble behind it is asset security!
Next is the practical information. As a senior analyst, I have organized three sets of 'asset protection locks'. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced user, you must implement them after today’s viewing, or you won’t be able to sleep soundly.
The first lock: physical lock - mnemonic phrases must be 'offline'. No more taking photos, no more storing in cloud drives, no more sending via WeChat! Find a fireproof and waterproof notebook, write down the mnemonic phrases by hand, or have them stamped out of steel, and hide them in a place only you know. Remember, visible mnemonic phrases are a 'feast' prepared for hackers.
The second lock: device lock - dedicated cold machine 'isolation'. Specifically, find an old phone to serve as the 'cold machine', only install the official wallet app, do not insert a SIM card, do not connect to public WiFi, do not install any unfamiliar plugins, and do not even use it to watch short videos or chat on WeChat. The only purpose of this phone is to manage assets; don’t do anything else.
The third lock: permission lock - asset allocation 'hierarchical'. Large assets must be placed in multi-signature wallets or hardware wallets, while daily accounts should only hold a small amount for spending. Additionally, all wallets must enable two-factor authentication; a verification code or hardware confirmation is required for transferring coins. Don’t complain about the steps being too many; one more verification step means one less risk.
