It was a dark and stormy morning when I was startled awake by the silence of a cellphone that showed no service.

This was strange because I always had service at my home. I immediately suspected the worst... bitcoin thieves!

It was an attack vector I knew about, and had planned for. Hackers would port victims cell phone numbers to devices they controlled, to take over the two factor authentication sms codes and gain control to their bitcoins exchange accounts.

I turn on my computer and fire up gmail, incorrect password. Seems like these guys really pwned me.

As I mentioned before I had planned for this, setting up a verbal password required by my cell provider, t-mobile, to make any changes to my account. It turns out the hacker just called in multiple times until the representative neglected to request this password. He was provided with my account number, using that and my social he was able to setup an account with Verizon, using my number.

The hacker reset passwords on my banking, coinbase, gemini, gmail, and several other accounts. He sent text messages to my brother and employees asking them to send bitcoin, he penned angry emails to everyone who ever sent me a message with the word bitcoin in it, demanding coins!

So how many bitcoins did he steal? Zero.

Although he was able to completely take over my online identity, through a combination of preparation and pure luck, he wasn't able to rob me. I keep bitcoins stored offline when I am not actively trading them, and always opt for a google authenticator 2FA instead of a SMS 2FA. Friends of mine weren't so lucky, several of them having lost massive sums to the attack. A terrible tragedy.

It is worth noting that had no one known I own bitcoins, I wouldn't have been singled out for an attack. However, with my public bitcoin business and the public persona of my other friends who were attacked, this isn't possible for us.

Don't tell anyone you have bitcoins!

Check out my story on how to store bitcoins safely
https://medium.com/@galianotiramani/how-do-i-store-my-bitcoins-safely-836ac76561c1

Thanks for reading!
Galiano Tiramani