Attention Altcoin Investors: These Fake Letters Can Empty Your Wallet! - Coin Bulletin

Ledger hardware wallet owners have been targeted by a scam in which attempts were made to steal their private recovery phrases through official-looking fake letters.

One of the world’s leading cryptocurrency hardware wallet manufacturers, Ledger, has confirmed a new scam method targeting its customers. Users have started receiving fake letters carrying the company’s official logo, asking them to verify their wallets under the guise of an “urgent security update”. In these letters, users are asked to scan the sent QR code and enter their 24-word recovery phrases.

Ledger clearly stated that all such requests are fraudulent and warned its users. In a statement made on its social media account, it said, “Ledger never asks its users for their 24-word recovery phrase via phone, message, or any other method. Such requests are fraud.”

How were the addresses seized?

The cryptocurrency investor Jacob Canfield, who first brought this scam method to the forefront, claimed that the user addresses were obtained from Ledger’s past database leak. Ledger had experienced a major data breach in 2020, where personal information of over 273,000 customers was leaked. However, the company has not yet provided clear information on where the addresses were obtained in the recent incident.

Chainalysis has reported that the cases of crypto fraud are increasing, with the revenue from crypto fraud reaching $12.4 billion in 2024, and that such crimes are becoming increasingly professionalized. Therefore, Ledger users are urged to be extra cautious.