Security Warning of the week - VIP!!! (Patreon)

A hard lesson and an important reminder. Kudos to this member for wanting to share this painful story.

Unfortunately, a valued member of our community was hacked and lost everything. The likely cause? A single misplaced click — a phishing link that compromised their machine, granting full access to their wallet. In minutes, it was drained.

This wasn’t a beginner. This was someone extremely tech-savvy — the kind of person who uses Bitwarden, YubiKey, 2FA, and takes security seriously. It’s a stark reminder: even the most prepared can still fall victim.

It’s heartbreaking, but true — it can take a lifetime to build and just one second to lose it all.

Please, be vigilant. Learn from this. Below are critical rules I can’t stress enough.

It’s also a key reason I lean heavily toward trading equity options over storage and avoid crypto exchanges like the plague. This was KRAKEN by the way and NOBODY is available to answer the call - meanwhile Coinbase calls and texts me every single day (yeah Coinbase will never call u - they are scammers)

MY HACK PREVENTION RULES

1. Use a Dedicated Computer for Crypto

• Never use your crypto device for browsing, email, or social media.

• Disable Bluetooth, auto-updates, and USB autorun.

2. Never Click Links — Ever

• No clicking links in emails, Discord, Telegram, Twitter, etc.

• Always type the URL manually or use a trusted bookmark.

3. Cold Storage Is Far Better than Centralized Exchanges

• Store the majority of funds on a hardware wallet (eg Trezor)

• Never leave meaningful funds in hot wallets, mobile apps, or exchanges.

• PS if you are also afraid of COLD STORAGE like me - use ETFs or put your Crypto with a custody - see my FIdelity case from Q&A last week.

4. Separate Wallets for Different Functions

• Use different wallets for:

  • Long-term cold storage

  • Yield farming or DeFi

  • Perp Trading

  • Day-to-day spending

  This limits risk exposure if one wallet gets compromised.

5. Secure Seed Phrases Like Your Life Depends on It

• Never store seed phrases digitally (cloud, photos, screenshots, notes app = NO).

• Use metal backups like Billfodl, Cryptosteel, or Seedplate.

• Store backups in multiple geographically secure locations (but not easily guessable ones).

FInal note from a member... SYNC