Thief Snaps Photo of Victim’s Seed Phrase in Apartment, Steals $1.7M in Crypto

Former Singapore Army (SAF) diver has granted in court to steal $1.7 million Cryptocurrency After secretly filming a seed phrase belonging to a Chinese citizen living in Singapore.

Theolong Xuan, 34, who previously worked for the military’s naval diving unit, admitted to dealing with accusations including household chores, misuse of computer systems and unfair interests in court on October 1. The era of the straits.

Seed Phrases – Typewise, a sequence of random words – is composed as a master key for cryptocurrency wallet. Unlike passwords, stolen seed phrases cannot be reset. This means that if your access to funds is compromised, it will be irrevocably lost.

Theft of seed phrases is one of the most common ways for burglars and hackers to gain access to a person’s wallet. According to TRM Labs, infrastructure attacks and seed phrases targeting private keys and seed phrases account for 70% of funds stolen last year. The company added that they are often acquired through poor storage practices, phishing campaigns and malware deployment.

Court records show Theo met the 30-year-old victim through mutual friends in mid-2022. During a soccer match assembled at the victim’s house, Theo pretended to support another guest and obtained a Mansion Access Card. He could not return the card.

On December 31, 2022, TEO used its access to re-enter the victim’s troops while they were out. He found a paper containing a 24-word seed phrase from the victim’s ledger Nano X hardware wallet and took a photo. The next day, Theo transferred $1.7 million in USDT using seed phrases Stablecoin in his own wallet.

Prosecutors said Teo spent money on luxury watches, online gambling and paying for mortgages. Approximately $1.1 million was converted to US dollars and moved to his bank account. Theo later admitted to the crime after the victim discovered the missing funds and discovered that blockchain investigators tied the theft to his wallet.

Teo claimed he was motivated by a major financial loss following the collapse of the cryptocurrency Exchange FTX in 2022.

Crypto Wallet Security

Industry experts said the case demonstrates how human error and weak storage practices can undermine the security of digital assets.

“This case is a strong reminder that user behavior is just as important as product security,” said Veronica Wong, CEO and co-founder of Crypto Wallet Suite Safepal. Decryption.

She recommended long-term holders use hardware wallets with encrypted chipsets, and while active traders may consider cloud backups, such methods also introduce risks associated with third-party encryption and account access.

Petr Kozyakov, co-founder and CEO of Payments Platform Mercuryo, added that the case emphasizes how important it is to protect seed phrases safely for individuals who practice self-compromising.

“Storage in a safe place, such as a bank’s safe deposit box, is a best practice. But unfortunately, there is no panacea when it comes to keeping your digital assets safe,” he said.

He said another best practice is to write seed phrases on durable materials such as fire-resistant metal plates and store them in multiple safe locations or use a multi-signature wallet that requires approval from two or more private keys.