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Topic: Electronic devices that can detect wrong wallet (Read 401 times)

legendary
Activity: 2268
Merit: 18711
February 25, 2023, 04:09:38 AM
#35
In some cases, malware can modify the middle portion of the address, and taking only the beginning and end characters may not be sufficient.
Yeah, this is the issue. As hardware becomes more powerful, then it becomes possible for malware to match an increasing number of characters. And if an attacker knows in advance which addresses you might be sending to, then they can grind for hours or days to find a very similar malicious address. Really the only way to be safe is to check the whole address.

However, for high-value transactions or when in doubt, it's always best to check the entire address carefully.
So the easiest way that I find to do this is to put the address you want to send to physically next to the address you have pasted in to your wallet. So this might mean resizing the exchange's deposit webpage and aligning it with your wallet software window, or holding your phone or hardware wallet up to your computer screen, or something like that. Once you have the intended destination address and the address you are sending to physically within an inch of each other, it is very easy to check all the characters.
member
Activity: 124
Merit: 11
Your clipboard can be targeted by malware, which is why it is necessary to manually double check your sending address against the source you received it from (email, website, whatever). Similarly, any such checking tool can be similarly targeted by malware, and does not remove the need to manually double check.

That's why triple-check before I press send Grin

Due diligence avoids a lot of errors in any daily process you have.
hero member
Activity: 1456
Merit: 940
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What do you mean? It's quite simple to visually confirm the destination address before sending bitcoins. Simply remember the first few and last few digits of the original address you copied, and compare them with the target address. It's recommended to take extra precautions when it comes to financial transactions.
But if you are doing this anyway as you should (although you should be checking the whole address and not just a few characters), then what does an automatic tool add to the process? Either your computer is free of malware and so the tool simply confirms what you've already discovered by checking manually, in which case it adds nothing, or you have some malware which results in the tool confirming an incorrect address, in which case it is actively harmful and encourages users to skip the manual check.

Your clipboard can be targeted by malware, which is why it is necessary to manually double check your sending address against the source you received it from (email, website, whatever). Similarly, any such checking tool can be similarly targeted by malware, and does not remove the need to manually double check.

Indeed, it's always better to exercise caution while sending transactions, especially when significant amounts are involved. No automated tool can replace the need for a careful review of the entire address before sending the payment.

While I mentioned that taking a few characters from the beginning and end of the address can offer some protection against clipboard malware, it's important to understand that this may not be foolproof. In some cases, malware can modify the middle portion of the address, and taking only the beginning and end characters may not be sufficient.

Nonetheless, taking a few characters from the address can be a quick and useful practice to adopt for everyday transactions. However, for high-value transactions or when in doubt, it's always best to check the entire address carefully. Let's make sure we take all necessary precautions to secure our transactions and protect our funds.
full member
Activity: 798
Merit: 134
If the address you sent the bitcoin was a wrong address then forget about your bitcoin because it can't be retrievable and no device to detect whether the wallet or the address is wrong why because, if Mr. C copied his address and sent to you and Mr. K also copied his address and sent to you at the end you now have two addresses any of which you copied and send bitcoin to will receive the payment while you were trying to send to Mr. k and mistakenly sent to Mr. C this doesn't mean the address is a wrong address rather than you have made a mistake. The only way is, if you know the address owners you can personally send them person messages asking for refund. And if they are reputable members they may send back to you or not but know that any bitcoin mistakenly sent to address that you do not know the owner is automatically lost.
legendary
Activity: 2268
Merit: 18711
What do you mean? It's quite simple to visually confirm the destination address before sending bitcoins. Simply remember the first few and last few digits of the original address you copied, and compare them with the target address. It's recommended to take extra precautions when it comes to financial transactions.
But if you are doing this anyway as you should (although you should be checking the whole address and not just a few characters), then what does an automatic tool add to the process? Either your computer is free of malware and so the tool simply confirms what you've already discovered by checking manually, in which case it adds nothing, or you have some malware which results in the tool confirming an incorrect address, in which case it is actively harmful and encourages users to skip the manual check.

Your clipboard can be targeted by malware, which is why it is necessary to manually double check your sending address against the source you received it from (email, website, whatever). Similarly, any such checking tool can be similarly targeted by malware, and does not remove the need to manually double check.
hero member
Activity: 1456
Merit: 940
🇺🇦 Glory to Ukraine!
Maybe I got him wrong then? I thought the OP had a list of "approved" addresses that he could send to, so he wants to double-check if an address is among those.
My point being that such a tool doesn't really add any meaningful security. If your machine is not compromised, and you are manually double checking what you are copying and pasting as you should be, then such a tool is unnecessary. If your machine is compromised, then you could have clipboard malware which changes what you copy, but you could equally have some malware which interferes with your tool and returns a false positive, or inserts the attacker's address in to the tool's database, meaning the tool is useless, and you would only pick up the error by manually double checking again.

Gotcha, yes, in the case of  themiddle-man malware it's hard to pick up those details on the go.

What do you mean? It's quite simple to visually confirm the destination address before sending bitcoins. Simply remember the first few and last few digits of the original address you copied, and compare them with the target address. It's recommended to take extra precautions when it comes to financial transactions.
member
Activity: 124
Merit: 11
Maybe I got him wrong then? I thought the OP had a list of "approved" addresses that he could send to, so he wants to double-check if an address is among those.
My point being that such a tool doesn't really add any meaningful security. If your machine is not compromised, and you are manually double checking what you are copying and pasting as you should be, then such a tool is unnecessary. If your machine is compromised, then you could have clipboard malware which changes what you copy, but you could equally have some malware which interferes with your tool and returns a false positive, or inserts the attacker's address in to the tool's database, meaning the tool is useless, and you would only pick up the error by manually double checking again.

Gotcha, yes, in the case of  themiddle-man malware it's hard to pick up those details on the go.
member
Activity: 1165
Merit: 78
Normally I believe every Bitcoin wallet automatically checks the validity of the wallet address before it will enable to send a transaction but when a correct Bitcoin wallet address is being switched to an incorrect recipient Bitcoin address that's a clipboard attack hijack.

I don't think there are any issues here, when sending from one Bitcoin address to another it's automatically you cannot send coins/tokens from one chain like a Bitcoin chain to another chain like Tron, it will detect errors it's automatic,
It depend on the feature of the wallet used though. Some people have mistakenly send another cryptocurrency to wrong blockhain and this mostly happen on CEX.

legendary
Activity: 2268
Merit: 18711
Maybe I got him wrong then? I thought the OP had a list of "approved" addresses that he could send to, so he wants to double-check if an address is among those.
My point being that such a tool doesn't really add any meaningful security. If your machine is not compromised, and you are manually double checking what you are copying and pasting as you should be, then such a tool is unnecessary. If your machine is compromised, then you could have clipboard malware which changes what you copy, but you could equally have some malware which interferes with your tool and returns a false positive, or inserts the attacker's address in to the tool's database, meaning the tool is useless, and you would only pick up the error by manually double checking again.
newbie
Activity: 13
Merit: 8
I don't really know what you are looking for precisely, but if you input a wrong address during transactions then the only way to retrieve coins is by contacting the receiving party and ask for their cooperations in returning the funds. On the other hand, if you don't know the owner of the address, there will be no possible actions you can take to retrieve the funds. So when sending or transferring be very cautious and always copy and paste addresses don't write it out, it can lead to errors in wallet address

Also, If you are talking about softwares that can track Bitcoin transactions, then I think just a few companies like ''chainalysis crypto tracking company'' that can do that with their block chain analysis software and some public online clues.

If you are also using a reliable wallet, then you can contact the help service for further assistance.
member
Activity: 124
Merit: 11
It is easy to build something like contact to bitcoin address converter where you can write the name of your friend or from your contact, and then when click on send it sends to his address directly
This would be just as vulnerable to something like clipboard malware as copy and pasting an address directly, and would still require double checking the address before sending. Although now you've added an unnecessary middle man in the process of your friend giving you their address, so there is more scope for mistakes and compromise, not fewer. It also encourages address reuse.

If so, I would also go based on your recommendation, he can do a simple Excel sheet that could cross-check that just by inputting an address.
I fail to see what you gain by copy and pasting an address from an email (for example) in to an Excel document, and then copy and pasting from that Excel document to your wallet. All you are doing is adding unnecessary steps, and the more steps the more chance of something going wrong. Just double check the address in your wallet against the original email, rather than against an intermediary database.

Maybe I got him wrong then? I thought the OP had a list of "approved" addresses that he could send to, so he wants to double-check if an address is among those. If that's not the case, a simple validation tool would suffice, while the rest of the responsibility is on the receiver, and he obviously gives you the incorrect/someone else's address.
hero member
Activity: 2996
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I want to ask if it's possible to create a device that detect wrong wallet address, i dont know such device or bot app is already existing, somebody sent Bitcoin to Bitcoin address given and since a week the person insist of not seeing the coin and not even showing a sign of coin is on process and he complained to me. Having such device that  notice Bitcoin addresses will help bitcoiners.

It's a mistake and it has being corrected to wrong Bitcoin address.
Normally I believe every Bitcoin wallet automatically checks the validity of the wallet address before it will enable to send a transaction but when a correct Bitcoin wallet address is being switched to an incorrect recipient Bitcoin address that's a clipboard attack hijack.

I don't think there are any issues here, when sending from one Bitcoin address to another it's automatically you cannot send coins/tokens from one chain like a Bitcoin chain to another chain like Tron, it will detect errors it's automatic, if that OP means then there's no issue at all, but when sending from one address to another by using copy paste and the address is changed then yes there's a malware, and that's what OP is trying to find if there is an application like that, it's easier to check the address than using that device or tool or application.
Whenever I transact I alternately shift my attention to the address I copy and the address I pasted its easy all you need is good attention.
sr. member
Activity: 1498
Merit: 271
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I want to ask if it's possible to create a device that detect wrong wallet address, i dont know such device or bot app is already existing, somebody sent Bitcoin to Bitcoin address given and since a week the person insist of not seeing the coin and not even showing a sign of coin is on process and he complained to me. Having such device that  notice Bitcoin addresses will help bitcoiners.

It's a mistake and it has being corrected to wrong Bitcoin address.

When we make a transaction in bitcoin whether deposit or withdrawal it is up to us whether the address we enter is correct or incorrect. So before it is confirmed to be sent to the destination address it is up to us whether it is wrong or right.

    Now, you are asking if there is a device that can detect a wrong address, my answer is that there is no device that can detect a wrong one, so it is just common sense that you put in the address and then your device will ask or search if the address is right or wrong. Do you get the logic I'm talking about?
member
Activity: 1165
Merit: 78
I want to ask if it's possible to create a device that detect wrong wallet address, i dont know such device or bot app is already existing, somebody sent Bitcoin to Bitcoin address given and since a week the person insist of not seeing the coin and not even showing a sign of coin is on process and he complained to me. Having such device that  notice Bitcoin addresses will help bitcoiners.

It's a mistake and it has being corrected to wrong Bitcoin address.
Normally I believe every Bitcoin wallet automatically checks the validity of the wallet address before it will enable to send a transaction but when a correct Bitcoin wallet address is being switched to an incorrect recipient Bitcoin address that's a clipboard attack hijack.
full member
Activity: 2324
Merit: 175
I want to ask if it's possible to create a device that detect wrong wallet address, i dont know such device or bot app is already existing,

None that I know, but even if there is one I'm not going to use it, it's a third-party application that could manipulate my transaction, when doing a transaction it's better to be mindful and check the address we are sending because of the so many news about clipboard malware.

Quote
somebody sent Bitcoin to Bitcoin address given and since a week the person insist of not seeing the coin and not even showing a sign of coin is on process and he complained to me. Having such device that  notice Bitcoin addresses will help bitcoiners.
There are Bitcoin explorers, you two should both know this because part of transacting is knowing that you can see the confirmation on the blockchain, you can send the transaction ID, or check the address of the recipient, the beauty of Cryptocurrency is the receiver cannot deny that he received it when he really received it.


hero member
Activity: 938
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Even with such a device that can be able to identify bitcoin address,  alternatively the use of (segwit)   bech32 address for bitcoin it's easier to identify as a bitcoin address since there's no other network address that starts with bc1 except for bitcoin only.
 For it seems the traditional BTC address  can be easily confused with another network address in the case of bug compared to segwit.
legendary
Activity: 2268
Merit: 18711
It is easy to build something like contact to bitcoin address converter where you can write the name of your friend or from your contact, and then when click on send it sends to his address directly
This would be just as vulnerable to something like clipboard malware as copy and pasting an address directly, and would still require double checking the address before sending. Although now you've added an unnecessary middle man in the process of your friend giving you their address, so there is more scope for mistakes and compromise, not fewer. It also encourages address reuse.

If so, I would also go based on your recommendation, he can do a simple Excel sheet that could cross-check that just by inputting an address.
I fail to see what you gain by copy and pasting an address from an email (for example) in to an Excel document, and then copy and pasting from that Excel document to your wallet. All you are doing is adding unnecessary steps, and the more steps the more chance of something going wrong. Just double check the address in your wallet against the original email, rather than against an intermediary database.
member
Activity: 124
Merit: 11
When you say wrong wallet device, do you mean wrong address, but one that is still a valid BTC address or?

I think OP is referring to "an address where was bitcoin was sent to accidentally instead of the correct address" so not necessarily a device. Hardware is not necessary for this at all.

Well, you could add the address to your address book and give it a label if you use it frequently. Now if only wallet software had a feature to block sending transactions to addresses which are not in your address book, then if you combined it with some double-checking of the address, should prevent you from sending coins to any wrong address.

I see, thanks for clearing it out! If so, I would also go based on your recommendation, he can do a simple Excel sheet that could cross-check that just by inputting an address.
newbie
Activity: 39
Merit: 0
What about checking where did all this coins/tokens went.
legendary
Activity: 1596
Merit: 1288
I want to ask if it's possible to create a device that detect wrong wallet address
It is easy to build something like contact to bitcoin address converter where you can write the name of your friend or from your contact, and then when click on send it sends to his address directly, and some wallets have a tag known as Label Name, you can add your friend’s name there and before sending, write it instead of writing the Bitcoin address.



you can export labels and import it.

Hence it is easy to build an electronic device accordingly, it will not only be a wrong address, but an unknown address.
legendary
Activity: 2268
Merit: 18711
I don't know how this happened, but it did happen.
You can read how it happened in this post on that thread: https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.54860249

It was a bug in Atomic wallet where it extracted the pubkeyhash from the doge address which was pasted in and then generated a corresponding bitcoin address using that pubkeyhash. The user in question ended up sending bitcoin to this mistakenly generated bitcoin address, and not to the original dogecoin address he pasted in, which as I said would not be possible as the network would reject such a transaction.
legendary
Activity: 1848
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I remember that there was a software bug in the Atomic wallet, where a member of the forum wanted to send Bitcoin using Atomic Wallet, but he put a Dogecoin address instead of a Bitcoin address, An error message was supposed to appear showing that this is an invalid address, but that did not happen and the member did not notice the error, and the amount BTC was actually sent to the Dogecoin address.
This is not possible. You cannot send bitcoin to a dogecoin address. The network will not accept such an invalid transaction. Perhaps he had accidentally generated a bitcoin address from a private key in his dogecoin wallet?
I don't know how this happened, but it did happen. You can read the original thread on the forum here:
[RESOLVED] Atomic wallet. Bitcoin sent to a Dogecoin address...

The member did lose his bitcoin and the wallet compensated 50% of his loss as I remember, because it was a mistake with the wallet and his fault because he put an invalid address.
legendary
Activity: 2268
Merit: 18711
during sending someone Bitcoin with wrong and address it happens to bounce without confirmation.
If you try to send bitcoin to an invalid address, either your wallet software will return an error or the transaction will be rejected by the first node you try to broadcast it to and will never reach the network. You can only send bitcoin to valid addresses, which will receive a confirmation at some point (barring rare cases when the mempool is too full). Your proposed software has no way of knowing whether the bitcoin address you have entered is valid and correct or valid but incorrect. You just have to manually double check.

I remember that there was a software bug in the Atomic wallet, where a member of the forum wanted to send Bitcoin using Atomic Wallet, but he put a Dogecoin address instead of a Bitcoin address, An error message was supposed to appear showing that this is an invalid address, but that did not happen and the member did not notice the error, and the amount BTC was actually sent to the Dogecoin address.
This is not possible. You cannot send bitcoin to a dogecoin address. The network will not accept such an invalid transaction. Perhaps he had accidentally generated a bitcoin address from a private key in his dogecoin wallet?

funds won't be bounced if you send to the wrong address format eg bitcoin to ethereum address
Again, not possible. This transaction would be invalid.
hero member
Activity: 2212
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I have seen from the suggestions above that it's possible to build such application that will detect when transactions of Bitcoin occur by using a wrong wallet address. But if someone work on such technology won't it actualize it and mostly building an application when you apply during sending someone Bitcoin with wrong and address it happens to bounce without confirmation. Can't such application won't be build if apply wisdom and time.

As a rule, transactions can't be reversed after you actually click "send", funds won't be bounced if you send to the wrong address format eg bitcoin to ethereum address even if you use the most advanced software. I also don't know if for example this kind of missent prevention app can intervene in other apps like disabling the send button if your input address isn't valid.
legendary
Activity: 1848
Merit: 1982
Fully Regulated Crypto Casino
Most wallets have the ability to detect an invalid bitcoin address and give you a warning that there is an error in the address, but the other case is if you enter a valid but wrong address this case can only be detected by manual checking.

I remember that there was a software bug in the Atomic wallet, where a member of the forum wanted to send Bitcoin using Atomic Wallet, but he put a Dogecoin address instead of a Bitcoin address, An error message was supposed to appear showing that this is an invalid address, but that did not happen and the member did not notice the error, and the amount BTC was actually sent to the Dogecoin address.
the Bitcoin was lost as a result of this sending to an invalid address, it was The bug was reported and the wallet team fixed the bug and compensated the member for the lost bitcoins.

The application you want to create can be useful in preventing such cases.
full member
Activity: 700
Merit: 205
I have seen from the suggestions above that it's possible to build such application that will detect when transactions of Bitcoin occur by using a wrong wallet address. But if someone work on such technology won't it actualize it and mostly building an application when you apply during sending someone Bitcoin with wrong and address it happens to bounce without confirmation. Can't such application won't be build if apply wisdom and time.
legendary
Activity: 2912
Merit: 6403
Blackjack.fun
Yeah, the TXID should show that it's there, or that it's not if there really was some issue. If both sides are being honest here, it's possible the transaction is just stuck because it was sent with too low of a transaction fee.

Impossible, OP started the topic on February the 9th, claiming the transaction deal was around one week old
On February 5th we had a bunch of blocks from 775142 to 775160 that were not full and confirmed even the lowest transactions at 1sat/kb so if it was sent a week go (February 2nd)  it's impossible for it to not have been already confirmed for four days prior to OP opening the topic.
Also:
Quote
not seeing the coin and not even showing a sign of coin is on process
So probably his friend checked the mempool and saw there are unconfirmed deposits to his address at all.


legendary
Activity: 2268
Merit: 18711
If both sides are being honest here, it's possible the transaction is just stuck because it was sent with too low of a transaction fee. Sending another transaction with a higher-than-normal fee should fix that right up.
That's not great advice.

If the original sender simply uses their wallet software to make another transaction with a higher fee, then chances are that software will create an entirely separate transaction which has nothing to do with the first. And so when the mempool empties out, there will be two separate confirmed transactions both sending the same amount of bitcoin to the recipient, and the original sender will be out of pocket.

If you want to bump the fee of an existing transaction, then you either need to use a wallet which supports RBF to specifically replace the existing transaction, or you need to specifically spend one of the unconfirmed child outputs in a new CPFP transaction.
full member
Activity: 130
Merit: 150
Yeah, the TXID should show that it's there, or that it's not if there really was some issue. If both sides are being honest here, it's possible the transaction is just stuck because it was sent with too low of a transaction fee. Sending another transaction with a higher-than-normal fee should fix that right up. Just in case this is the issue, here's a guide on that: https://coingate.com/blog/post/btc-mempool-stuck.
legendary
Activity: 2912
Merit: 6403
Blackjack.fun
somebody sent Bitcoin to Bitcoin address given and since a week the person insist of not seeing the coin and not even showing a sign of coin is on process and he complained to me.

It's easy, have him give you the tx id!
I have a feeling this might be either a case of scamming or somebody had his computer infected with some clipboard malware.
Every transaction that is valid will appear in the blockchain, if he sent coins to somebody it will show where those coins went!

That aside, there is not possible to build a program that will automatically detect if the address you want to send coins to is the address your friend sent you via telegram or email, or any kind of new address generated by your exchange, in order to make sure you only send coins to selected addresses you will first have to insert them in that program's database so it will know them, which brings us to the address book NotATether mentioned.
legendary
Activity: 1568
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When you say wrong wallet device, do you mean wrong address, but one that is still a valid BTC address or?

I think OP is referring to "an address where was bitcoin was sent to accidentally instead of the correct address" so not necessarily a device. Hardware is not necessary for this at all.

Well, you could add the address to your address book and give it a label if you use it frequently. Now if only wallet software had a feature to block sending transactions to addresses which are not in your address book, then if you combined it with some double-checking of the address, should prevent you from sending coins to any wrong address.
hero member
Activity: 1778
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Could you please be more specific on what "wrong wallet device" means? Do you mean detect a device that is possibly infected with a virus(es), thereby giving addresses that doesn't actually belong to you? Just install an antivirus.

Regarding your issue, the tx explorers such as mempool.space should be transparent enough to track bitcoin tx, unless you are sending bitcoins internally on a centralized service to your clients.
member
Activity: 124
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I want to ask if it's possible to create a device that detect wrong wallet device, i dont know such device or bot app is already existing, somebody sent Bitcoin to Bitcoin address given and since a week the person insist of not seeing the coin and not even showing a sign of coin is on process and he complained to me. Having such device that  notice Bitcoin addresses will help bitcoiners.

When you say wrong wallet device, do you mean wrong address, but one that is still a valid BTC address or?
legendary
Activity: 3668
Merit: 6382
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I want to ask if it's possible to create a device that detect wrong wallet device, i dont know such device or bot app is already existing, somebody sent Bitcoin to Bitcoin address given and since a week the person insist of not seeing the coin and not even showing a sign of coin is on process and he complained to me. Having such device that  notice Bitcoin addresses will help bitcoiners.

Bitcoin addresses do contain a checksum and the proper wallets do check it before allowing you send coins to an address.
This being said I'm not sure what would achieve such a device as you propose.

You can have a clipboard virus and send to a different (but valid!) address than his.
He can have a clipboard virus and tell you a different (but valid!) address than where he expects the coins.
You may have been sending from a scam platform that doesn't process withdrawals/payments.
He may have the wallet on a scam platform or one with bugs that ignored the incoming money and didn't fund the account.
(there may be many more cases that didn't come to my mind right now)

Would the device you propose fix this? No.
Would the device you propose do more than what a proper wallet already does? No.

And then..?
full member
Activity: 700
Merit: 205
I want to ask if it's possible to create a device that detect wrong wallet address, i dont know such device or bot app is already existing, somebody sent Bitcoin to Bitcoin address given and since a week the person insist of not seeing the coin and not even showing a sign of coin is on process and he complained to me. Having such device that  notice Bitcoin addresses will help bitcoiners.

It's a mistake and it has being corrected to wrong Bitcoin address.
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