Don't Look Now - Your STEEM Account Was Stolen!
It was Saturday night and we had just enjoyed a very pleasant day/evening entertaining my niece and her boyfriend with a "game night". It was close to midnight and I had an @actifit report to get posted. I was perplexed when I couldn't get my report to download to STEEM. I went to my Partiko app to try and determine whether me, Actifit, or STEEM was having the issue. And that when I saw it. (Image #1 above - Panic!) My wallet was empty! I knew I had over 100 STEEM and about 9 SBD in my account plus over 3000 SP. I know, it's not a fortune by any means. But those amounts represented a lot of hard work and posting for me.
I abandoned the phone and went to my computer. When I called up SteemWorld.org and looked at my balances - yep, it was gone. Then I saw the transactions transferring out my hard-earned coins to an account called @stcem.
Then I saw the really scary part - a Power Down had been initiated.
I started clicking on the STOP POWER DOWN button but all I got was error messages. That's when I knew I was locked out of my own account. I tried logging in with my Master Owner's account, but nope, everything thing had been changed.
At that point, I felt helpless and furious (Image #2 above - Fury!) at the same time. There's no customer support to call - no 800 number to report fraud and get a do-over. This is the Wild, Wild West of crypto. Shit!
I opened up Discord and wailed like a baby to my friends in PowerHouseCreatives and even though it was the wee hours of the morning (I knew there'd be no sleep for me that night!) there were friends there to talk to. Right away @brittandjosie was there to listen and she pinged @thekittygirl. And, wow, she jumped right on it and notified @steemcleaners and @spaminator so they'd know what happened to my account. @nickyhavey popped in as well with a suggestion. And today there have been loads of concerned comments from @jaynie (our fearless FHC leader) and my fellow community members!
I started a Full/Deep scan on my computer to see if any Malware had gotten in (0 threats were found) and I also did the Offline version that does a deeper search - again nothing found. So I'm still not sure what I did to allow this, but I know I'll be super careful about not logging into ANYTHING I'm not 100 % sure of in the future.
@thekittygirl got in touch with @guiltyparties and he messaged me on Discord. By now the thief had already sent out over 70 comments to various people with a phishing messaging trying to steal even more people's accounts. @guiltyparties was able to get all those comments flagged and hidden almost immediately through steemcleaners and spaminator. I have gone to every comment and edited it to say "deleted" so that no one will be able to be fooled by that evil spam. I sincerely apologize for anyone who had their post receive one of those comments!
@guiltyparties informed me that he'd been in touch with Steemit Inc and that my Account Recovery Request was a priority. This having happened on late Saturday night I was fully expecting to not see any action until today (Monday). But I was shocked to find the email from SteemIt in about 24 hours!
So today my emotional rollercoaster has landed be back on safe ground with a sigh of relief. I'm still mad as hell that though that there are so many people out there ready to work hard at stealing other people's money when they could just work hard and make their own! I hope none of you ever have to experience this particular rollercoaster, but if you do I hope you're lucky enough to find caring friends and knowledgeable experts to help you through it! I'm attaching some helpful posts and information that could assist anyone caught up in a mess like this - but my best advice is "Guard your keys, don't click on anything you're not SURE of, and keep your virus protection in place and up to date!"
Steemit Wallet Stolen Accounts Recovery
How Can I Keep My Steem Account Secure?
Got Hacked? Here's How To Get Your Account And Reputation Score Back!
Critical Information Sunday October 13, 2019
[credit@EdibleCthulhu]
NOOOOO!! I hope it never happens to you again! I wish people wouldn't do this stuff.
Yeah, once was enough! Thanks for stopping by and commiserating with me!
This is not nice.
Most definitely NOT! I hope no one else has to go through this!
@blueeyes8960,
I tried not to send a bunch of messages, because I knew you were probably dealing with your issues... Know that I am glad things were set in motion, and you were able to get your account back... lots of people who are working "behind the scenes"... trying to make sure these things don't happen to anyone else.
Thanks @wesphilbin! I hope I caught everything I needed to do. It was panic time there for awhile
Posted using Partiko Android
Phew!! What a scare!!!
And you are still not sure how this happened?
Ok, that’s disturbing 😅
So sorry this happened and glad things got sorted soonest
Hugs
No still don't know what I did, it may have been awhile back even and they just actually took over late on Saturday night hoping I might not notice. Thanks for the hugs - appreciated!
This is the tricky one
Coz we don't even know what we did not to repeat it!!
May it never happen to you again... <33
and any one of us ...
I first noticed this on some phishing scam warning posts, and I felt so bad because I love your posts and it’s horrible when this happens.
The scammers are always getting more clever, they prey on you clicking on a link that asks for your key - and you give it. They disguise links well and make the key request look normal - it’s so easy.
Thank goodness you got it sorted out so quickly, everyone you mention in this post are incredible Steemians and always go above and beyond to help people. I wish more appreciation were made to all of them, especially @guiltyparties, @thekittygirl and brittandjosie
Pretty sure I am out of credit, but for what it is worth @tipu curate
Posted using Partiko iOS
Upvoted 👌
Thanks @c0ff33a, I appreciate the support (and it's nice to hear someone enjoys my posts, lol). I was happy to make a thank you shout out to these fantastic people of STEEM.
The way so many individuals worked together in order to prevent that shit is remarkable. Thumbs up to everyone involved.
Yes, indeed! Big thumbs up!! Thanks for stopping by.
Crikey. That would sure have me in a panic.
Fantastic fast response from Steemit Inc though. Glad it got sorted!
Panic is an excellent description - sick to my stomach feeling, let me tell ya!
Urgh! Here, have a 100% vote on me for the stress! Hope things are good now
@ashtv - thank you! It was pretty stressful, could have turned out so much worse though.
I hate when people do things like this, so sorry it had to happen to you but glad you got so much support
@tatoodjay - yes, why they can spend so much time and effort on thinking about how to cheat other people - disgusting! I'm lucky, I know, that so many people helped out. Communities are a great thing!
Ohh yes it is a big plus of the communities on here on other platforms it would never be resolved so quickly
Sorry you experienced this. Ten months or so into my account this happened and the wonderful people at Palnet (minnowsupport) helped me get my account back.
Posted using Partiko Android
@wandrnrose7 - I'm glad you got help too - it's such a helpless feeling!
It is an awful feeling!
Posted using Partiko Android
Awesome way to respond to such a scary situation, Tammy - sharing your experience and providing links to excellent information! Here's to hoping someone figures out exactly how this happened, so it can be prevented in the future.
Tagging @cardboard as he was curious what happened with all those spam comments, and since @c0ff33a got you with the TipU curate thingy, here's something to go along with it...
@giphy curate 100
Upvoted 👌
Powered by witness untersatz!
Thanks @traciyork - I just had to make a THANK YOU post, it was awesome how quickly they jumped on the problem and helped resolve it. And thanks for the @giphy curation!
You're very welcome, and I agree - this community is amazing when it comes to supporting each other when things like this happen! 😊