You want proof of funds ? I can provide you with a printout of my bank account balance.

I can even give you my IBAN number, for all the good it will do you.

If that is not enough, I can point you to my bank, where you can phone and ask questions yourself. But you won't be getting a cent either before, during or after the meeting. Not unless I actually transfer money to you, and why would I do that ?

Only in the funny-money universe can you feel obliged to actually give someone you don't know your own money just to prove that you have it.

If the article is correct, the victim did not give anyone any money. They showed them the "bank account" page with the balance on it, which was somehow enough information to initiate a transfer out.

This is why, in high value business transactions, escrow accounts get used by the wise.

Didn't need to be Escrow as *no funds were apparently moved beyond the control of the owner*.

The question is only how the scammers gained control of the wallet. It seems that everything was done correctly but the scammers were always one step ahead ... which, to be honest, is the sign of a very good scammer.

Plenty of people fall prey to fiat scams involving them logging into their bank accounts while a scammer watches, most commonly in the refund scam. In fact, it would be easier to provide secure proof of funds with a blockchain currency because you can simply give your address and transfer a tiny amount from that wallet into a designated one (absolutely no need to transfer the entire balance) in a way that's far harder to fake than a balance sheet. The balance is publicly viewable and the small transfer demonstrates control.

Cryptocurrency has just become criminal financing in recent years - I thought it was a great idea when cryptocurrency first appeared but it seems that a huge amount of criminals also thought the same thing. I've quit cryptocurrency 100% now to avoid the risks that this story describes - returning to checks, bank-transfers and credit cards is depressing but much safer and nowhere near are expensive as $4 million these days.

returning to checks, bank-transfers and credit cards is depressing

Is anyone still writing (sic)checks? I last saw my cheque book many years ago when I burnt it along with other old documents in a bonfire. I think in the 40 years that I've had a bank account I've only ever written a dozen cheques and none in the last 30 years.

yes

Yes, indeed. On average about two cheques a month. When I was working in the USA I even wrote a few checks as well.

In the supermarket on Saturday, bloke paying by cheque. I felt I was back in 1980.

Is anyone still writing (sic)checks?

Not if it can be avoided, but sometimes it can't. In our US state, some local taxing authorities still only take payments by paper check -- and if we want it credited properly (which we do), we also have to include the tear-off coupon from the bottom of the paper bill when we send our payment by snail mail. (This also means we still have to have postage stamps...)

Wait, there's more. Seemingly every criminal in the US has [1]keys to the postal drop boxes now , so we also have to drive to the post office and physically carry the envelope inside the building to mail it if we don't want to risk having the payment stolen (which we don't). Note: the linked article is from three years ago; the problem has gotten worse since then.

The above is not satire. This is something that we still have to do in the year of our Lord 2023, in {Jeremy Clarkson voice, although he would never say this about the US} "the greatest country...in the woooorld" -- at least for certain agencies that remain deeply stuck in the 1970s.

Also, many of the small contractors that we've hired to do work on our house don't take credit cards because of the transaction fees; nor do they use Venmo and its ilk, I suppose out of concern for being scammed or ripped off. So, checks for them as well.

[1] https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/thieves-are-stealing-checks-usps-boxes-it-mailbox-fishing-or-n1237320

They're not raising any money from me

I don't know if his business is a good long term investment prospect but I applaud his openness. It doesn't sound like he did anything risky so I wouldn't hold that against him if I was considering investing.

Is it possible that some kind of NFC vulnerability was exploited? If the thief had to get close enough to take photos of a small screen, would that be close enough?

Someone should go over the Trusted Wallet app with a fine-toothed comb. Could be some kind of NFC vulnerability, or I was thinking a backdoor inserted that leaks the private key bits via the display?

Since they insisted on a new account, created on the spot, it could also be some kind of man-in-the middle attack using the local wifi.

from the story, he created this at home on a private device, prior to the meeting.

Icon - Wheres me f**king (crypto) wallet?

I missed that. Thanks for pointing it out.

A man in-the-middle ploy might still be able to intercept the current security token, which combined with the picture, might get them access. The location could have been chosen (whose chose it?) for its bad cell reception and the ability to setup a rogue hot spot. Obviously not a good idea to rely on restaurant WiFi but there was a security failure somewhere.

I don't know if NFC or Bluetooth are more likely but the criminals risked meeting in person so proximity and/or location were key.

"Since they insisted on a new account, created on the spot, it could also be some kind of man-in-the middle attack using the local wifi."

Shirley nobody is foolish enough to carry out any form on financial transaction on public wifi?

Shirley nobody is foolish enough to carry out any form on financial transaction on public wifi?

Meanwhile in the real world - Yes of course they would, possibly through a VPN but then you are just transferring trust to an additional player which is no problem, until it is.

Seeing as the raison-d'etre of crypto-currency is to avoid regulatory oversight (or in plain English - money laundering & tax evasion) expecting people involved in crypto-currency to be honest and trustworthy is, to use a technical term, "fucking idiocy".

Web-averse.

Couldn't wait till Friday :)

Cryptocurrency - to the people who are capable of auditing everything properly themselves just to prevent getting scammed.

When Crypto Currency first became a thing a recall a lot of its fans telling us that one of it's major plus points was that because every single "coin" was unique and traceable theft was impossible.

How's that working out for them?

The information to make the heist must have come from SOMEWHERE. I Wonder if setting airplane mode would have made a difference.

Since the funds were transferred out so fast, seems they already had access to the account. I expect his home PC or phone was already compromised. 99% likely once they had access to the account, they removed any spyware to hide their tracks - before transferring the funds. NFC,, could be but, that means a huge can of worms is about to burst open on NFC vulnerabilities to wallet apps, which they should have discovered by now if that was the case.

The thing about any vulnerability is you can always say on day zero that should have been discovered by now

log4j should have been discovered before it was even written.

you'd have to have a heart made of stone not to laugh.