How I Lost $650,000 in Crypto in SECONDS with a Simple iPhone Error
A devastated crypto trader has revealed how he lost $650,000 (£499,000) to scammers who hacked into his iCloud account.
Domenic Iacovone had a load of valuables cryptocurrencies and NFTs stored in digital wallet app MetaMask before cyberthieves managed to bleed him dry.
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keep writing Twitterhe said it all started with a phone call he thought was from Apple.
Apparently at first he suspected it might be a scam so he ignored it.
But when the caller ID showed up as Apple and saw it was an Apple number, he decided to call back.
The scammer on the other end of the phone said his account had been compromised and asked for a code to be sent to his phone.
But “two seconds later my entire MetaMask was deleted”.
He claims hackers managed it by getting his secret 12-word “seed phrase” which is essential to get into the crypto wallet and must not be shared with anyone.
Little did he know that MetaMask automatically saves a seed phrase file to iCloud from his iPhone.
So scammers must have gone in and stolen it before draining his account.
“Don’t tell us never to digitally store our seed phrase and then do it behind our back,” Iacovone said.
“If 90 percent of people knew, I’d bet none of them would have activated the app or iCloud.”
MetaMask did not comment on the incident, but did tweet Advice for users amid the anger.
“If you have iCloud backup enabled for app data, this will include your password-encrypted MetaMask vault,” the company warned.
“If your password isn’t strong enough and someone phishes your iCloud credentials, it could mean stolen funds.
“You can disable iCloud backups specifically for MetaMask by turning off the switch here: Settings > Profile > iCloud > Manage Storage > Backups.
“If you don’t want iCloud to surprise you with unsolicited backups in the future, you can turn off this feature in Settings > Apple ID/iCloud > iCloud > iCloud Backup.”
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https://www.thesun.ie/tech/8674154/crypto-trader-loses-650000-dollars-iphone-icloud-metamask/ How I Lost $650,000 in Crypto in SECONDS with a Simple iPhone Error