Thieves in London target digital investors by taking phones
theguardian.com
theguardian.com
Setting up your phone so it can directly access your crypto wallets appears to be the modern equivalent of carrying physical silver/gold/bearer bonds around in your backpack every day.
Arguably it’s much worse too as at least worth the physical bonds and metals, the thief has to carry them away. Normally that’s be transferred to a second or even third member of the crew.
Digital assets are going to put the thief team members that are handed off the stolen goods out of work. Maybe they can learn to code.
Admittedly once the crypto transfer is done there's no need to involve someone else to fence the goods, but note that one million USD of gold isn't actually that hard to move around (less than 17kg / 37lbs), although you'd stand out at airport security. I once carried a small quantity (by value) of silver coins through Manchester Airport, UK and attracted far more attention there than I wanted!
You can get away with way more if you're Gene Hackman and have a beaten-up truck :) (Heist, 2001, directed by David Mamet...)
Solid metal will out like a sore thumb on an x-ray scanner, so don't even think it won't be detected or that it won't attract attention. (Even a bag of low-value non-precious coins in a carry-on bag can attract attention at screening. I've had that, too). Depending on how much you've got ask for a private screening? I ended up unpacking a pack of 1oz silver coins for the security agent to inspect and had bystanders watching the show. The coins didn't have that much value, but that's not what you'd want if you were planning on moving gold without attracting attention.
Make sure you're within any limits/restrictions on transporting cash or cash-like valuables, eg for the EU it's €10k[0], this now includes gold coins/bars but apparently not silver. You could carry €10k of silver and still be able to walk, 1kg of Silver is about ~$720/€680/£580 at the moment.
FWIW, I would feel considerably more comfortable taking - let's say - $10,000 (or equivalent) of cash through an airport than the same value in precious metal. With the right denomination bank notes it wouldn't need to even show as a bulge in your wallet.
[0] https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/customs-4/prohibitions...
If one carries a million dollar wallet in an encrypted file across a border is that a crime?
The perpetrators were cross checking data from the dump with an exposed Coinbase API that would return the user's balance without prompting for 2FA and then they targeted the high balance individuals with spearfishing attacks and SIM swaps.
But there is also a big downside - you bear accountability for your actions with your money. There is no "customer service" or "fraud department" in crypto. Some people only learn the hard way.
Lesson here is - use a cold wallet, and maybe a "watch only" wallet[1] on your phone.
[1] Watch only wallet is a wallet that is connected to your offline cold wallet, where you can deposit and view your funds on the watch only wallet, but you cannot withdraw.
In the pre-smartphone era, I'd have a maximum of 50 euros in cash in my pocket, not worth it for most muggers. I'd hand that over gladly.
I read of one person a while back who dissuaded a mugger by saying that they worked for the NSA, that their phone would be tracked and therefore would be dangerous to take. It is something to think about. Put a "property of US government" sticker on your phone.
How does it work when say passing airport security check? Does it mean that you voluntarily surrendered your property to govt and they get to see everything on that phone or do they bust one for lying to feds? Maybe remove US part to weasel out? :)
also, yeah.
"This heavy headed revel east and west
Makes us traduc'd, and tax'd of other nations;
They clepe us drunkards, and with swinish phrase
Soil our addition; and indeed it takes
From our achievements, though perform'd at height,
The pith and marrow of our attribute."
Now I always thought that was Shakespeare's sly little dig at his own country's reputation, but some years ago I was reading and presumably it was because the Danish royal court had visited England the year before the writing of Hamlet, and been scandalously drunk the whole time they were there.
The guy agreeing to go down the alley to buy cocaine from a group of strangers, the guy that got “pick-pocketed” while at the pub, to the anon vomiting under a bridge…where I am from the guy randomly vomiting under a bridge doesn’t have a phone much less $30k in crypto on it.
It just doesn’t seem plausible a random thief sees someone under a bridge vomiting and reasonably thinks that victim has untraceable crypto on his phone.