ORLANDO, Fla. – A devastating digital heist has left U.S. Air Force veteran Brandon Paige without his life savings.
“Initially, I was shocked. I said, ‘There’s no way,’” Paige said.
For eight years, Paige carried his crypto wallet everywhere — through deployments in Iraq, Afghanistan and across the Middle East.
He thought his digital fortune was secure.
“I was so terrified to lose these tokens that I moved them to the Ledger in 2017,” Paige said.
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A Ledger is a type of crypto wallet designed to be un-hackable because it’s kept offline. But last month, hackers somehow gained access to Paige’s digital wallet, stealing 268,357 shares of XRP cryptocurrency.
“At the time it was $569,000 U.S. dollars,” Paige said. “It’s about $800,000 at current price today.”
News 6 connected Paige with Secret Service financial analyst Brian Watson.
“I’ve seen it a couple of times,” Watson said.
Watson uncovered how the theft happened.
“When he created the account, he took a picture of that seed phrase and emailed it to himself. So, one of those email addresses was compromised,” Watson explained.
That seed phrase — essentially a password that grants access to a crypto wallet — was all the thieves needed.
The Secret Service tracked the stolen funds.
Within days, the crooks moved the money from Paige’s wallet to theirs, then fanned it through multiple exchanges, making recovery nearly impossible.
“They spread it out. They move a little bit to different parts and then they cash out at different places,” Watson said. “They’re good at laundering the proceeds.”
The Secret Service is investigating, but chances of recovery are slim. Watson says time is critical in these cases.
“The quicker that it’s reported to us, the faster we can jump on it, the faster that we can get cooperation from exchanges, the faster we can trace it,” he said.
For Paige, the loss has tested his resilience.
“It’s been stressful. It’s stressful to know that you took a blow like that, it’s very significant,” Paige said.
Tips to protect your cryptocurrency
- Use hardware wallets like Ledger or Trezor to store cryptocurrency offline, but never store backup seed phrases digitally.
- Enable two-factor authentication on all accounts related to your crypto holdings.
- Be cautious of phishing scams and suspicious emails asking for personal or wallet information.
- Regularly update software and firmware on wallets and devices to protect against vulnerabilities.
- Consider using multi-signature wallets that require multiple approvals for transactions.
Remember: Don’t fall for the scheme, don’t get ripped off, but if you do, email me at LBolden@wkmg.com.