There are probably a number of ways not to make it obvious. I guess it's not anymore safe nowadays to just merely list words. Worse, in the case of what happened in Nevada, it was also indicated that the funds are kept in a Ledger wallet.
This is also what I actually did with my seed phrase. There was a PIN and a password along with it, making it clear it was a seed phrase. Perhaps we could write a letter instead or perhaps a poem or whatever that uses the words in order. Or perhaps it is not really wise to keep it in your wallet. It's probably better to roll it really thin and hide it inside a small pocket of one of your clothes in your bag or even inside the hem of a shirt.
Topic: How to properly store seed phrase during inspection? - page 2. (Read 583 times)
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Don't make it look like a seed phrase. People these days are aware of what seed phrases are look like.
Although this experience is one of the few and sorry for that guy that has to experience it but, I'm sure that many are learning from his experience.
Yes, cryptocurrency enthusiasts will learn a lesson from what happened to the guy whose police stopped and search his vehicle. However, writing a seed phrase and not making it look like a seed phrase is not a good idea because it will only take an experienced cryptocurrency enthusiast 2 seconds to figure out the phrase was a crypto wallet seed phrase. Just like the second cop in the recorded video did.Although this experience is one of the few and sorry for that guy that has to experience it but, I'm sure that many are learning from his experience.
I think the best thing we can do is come up with a secret code for writing seed phrases which is what I do, in my seed phrase I rewrite everything in the language that only I understand. An example, C-O-D-E = Y-B-O-Z
Maybe have a sequence and jumble the combination but I think that someone who doesn't have a strong memory might forget it. At least make a pattern that you are the only one that knows it.
This will be better, and this is why it's better to have a safe deposit box or vault. 
Don't make it look like a seed phrase. People these days are aware of what seed phrases are look like.
Although this experience is one of the few and sorry for that guy that has to experience it but, I'm sure that many are learning from his experience.
Maybe have a sequence and jumble the combination but I think that someone who doesn't have a strong memory might forget it. At least make a pattern that you are the only one that knows it.
when you are really that too careless or confident about those phrases to be stored on something which is really that too exposed then you do have that kind of risk which it is really thatAlthough this experience is one of the few and sorry for that guy that has to experience it but, I'm sure that many are learning from his experience.
Maybe have a sequence and jumble the combination but I think that someone who doesn't have a strong memory might forget it. At least make a pattern that you are the only one that knows it.
normal and its true that this would really be a lesson learned for those people who do really see this kind of situation to be possible for your keys to be exposed.
When you are really that actively making some travels or transfers then it is really just right on storing up your keys on something which isnt really on your side always like
on having on your own home or would be stored up on places which cant be easily exposed.Its true that it would really be that wise on making some shuffle of words
and combinations on your phrases.As long it cant really be read up by someone easily then it would really be considered to be safe.You are obliged and the ones responsible
for these stuffs.
To let the seed phrase remain in words, using a very strong passphrase would be the best I could think about, encrypting the seed phrase can also be good, but I will prefer to just extend the word with a strong passphrase which its backup will not be in the same place with the seed phrase.
I wonder why someone need to carry his own seed phrase to everywhere he go? does there's a chance he will use huge amount during travelling? I don't think so, because you must have enough cash in hands and not put all of your money in Bitcoin.
What if the person is relocating like I said on the OP? There are situations that you may have your seed phrase with you while traveling, but relocating is the only reason tht came to my mind as of now. If you're really want to transact with Bitcoin (considering you're travelling to country that accept Bitcoin like El Salvador and Central African Republic) you can install non custodial wallet on your phone and only carry small amount on there.
This is a good option, hardware wallet and cold wallet is not even meant for the purpose of carrying it about, just a wallet on a mobile phone with small amount of coins would be better. This is a lesson to all bitcoiners traveling with their seed phrase because, some bitcoiners are now joining police or army force which they know how all those seeds phrase look like in someone document or system. I used to save my seed phrase in a place nobody can discover and, even though you discover the place, it will be difficult for you to know is a seed phrase I store there because, I have learnt from other people mistakes not to expose my seed phrase to anybody.
It's a matter of privacy. While the adoption increases, events of lost seeds and lyked passwords. And as the use is popular, do not expect to find everyone preferring Bitcoin because it gives more privacy, but only because it can be used instead of money and provides an available investment. These same people are the ones who save large amounts of crypto on trading platforms and do not have the courage to be responsible for their money in private wallets. This is a lesson to all bitcoiners traveling with their seed phrase because, some bitcoiners are now joining police or army force which they know how all those seeds phrase look like in someone document or system. I used to save my seed phrase in a place nobody can discover and, even though you discover the place, it will be difficult for you to know is a seed phrase I store there because, I have learnt from other people mistakes not to expose my seed phrase to anybody.
This will be a lesson to someone in the future to not bring your seed phrase with you or simply do not make it obvious that you have a seed phrase with you in times like the unexpected inspection. There are times this kind of thing or other things will bound to happen so it's best to leave or hide your precious seed phrase to somewhere that no one could intervene except you or the person you trusted with the seed phrase.Although, we don't know what happen to the wallet or is there something left on it this is a very valuable lesson to everyone.
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The video does indeed show the date of the recording to be the 22/04/2022. Not sure when the video was first released, buy what the crypto media have picked up on corresponds to a fragment of a nearly 54 minute long video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-aJ--1-DFgQ
The above link is a month old, and has 1,2M views since then. I haven’t checked if there are prior releases though, but it’s likely that the video was leaked months after the recording, limiting the damage from the tenancy point of view, though not the privacy one. What's more, the full video, I believe, identifies the dude, and I think I caught wind of him giving a home address.
There are a couple of reddit threads that state that the person they searched was a former-fbi agent, and currently worked in cyber security:
https://www.reddit.com/r/CryptoCurrency/comments/zo9i21/lesson_learned_cop_pulls_over_former_fbi_agent/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/zo7nq1/cops_pull_over_former_fbi_now_cyber_security_self/
The details may be in the video, but I can’t be bothered to go through it all. He does say he works as a contractor, has what looks like a law enforcement badge and a bunch of other stuff. Watching the video in full may corroborate what the above two links state.
What about creating a second seed/wallet before the travel and getting an address for it, then proceed to create a transaction with the money from the first seed to the second one you just created.
this transaction would be intended not to be broadcast until you reach your destination, this way, in case your seed gets revealed, it would be the second one which is empty, so you can choose not to broadcast the transaction, leaving your funds safe at home.
this transaction would be intended not to be broadcast until you reach your destination, this way, in case your seed gets revealed, it would be the second one which is empty, so you can choose not to broadcast the transaction, leaving your funds safe at home.
Why was the video released? I understand why body cams should be there and record inspections, but isn't it just so it can be reviewed upon request if there are allegations of misconduct or if something bad happens? Why was the video published online at all? Obviously, the seed is enough to take the money out, and now anyone could have done it. It's been 8 months, though, as the cam says the date is April 22. So there must have been a follow-up, as surely someone typed in the words and took the money? I can't see information about such stuff, though. If the money was stolen, and it was the police who published the bodycam video, I'd say the officers should be held accountable for leading to a loss of funds.
As for prevention of such situations, I think it's safer to store a seed in a mix of other text, so that you know it's a seed, but others can't.
As for prevention of such situations, I think it's safer to store a seed in a mix of other text, so that you know it's a seed, but others can't.
It will be easier if you don't get the seed phrase out of the house and instead store them in a box or keep them in your bedroom cupboard, it's that simple.
but if you really want to move house and are forced to take that seed phrase with you, it's better to save it in your cellphone's photo gallery and when you get to your destination you can rewrite it on new paper.
actually things like that for me are very simple but some people sometimes carelessly carry seed phrases wherever they go.
but if it happens to me while on the road and there is an inspection by the police, I hide it first in the dashboard of the car which is very difficult for the police to reach.
but if you really want to move house and are forced to take that seed phrase with you, it's better to save it in your cellphone's photo gallery and when you get to your destination you can rewrite it on new paper.
actually things like that for me are very simple but some people sometimes carelessly carry seed phrases wherever they go.
but if it happens to me while on the road and there is an inspection by the police, I hide it first in the dashboard of the car which is very difficult for the police to reach.
It is about a suspect that police searched his car and body camera revealed the suspect's seed phrase to the whole world.
Walking around with something as important as that is an error first of all, secondly, I feel a good job was not done trying to keep the seed phrase safe. During inspection, the police person doing the inspection is not a machine and should simply understand you if you demand that he searches wherever you have dropped your seed phrase in the vehicle ensuring that his body cam doesn't capture it. You are not refusing the inspection, just letting them know the importance of what you have and how they can put your legal investment at risk exposing your seed phrase to the body cam, they can inspect that side with their eyes, not a body cam. How can he even do such a thing even the dumpest human will crack that code down, cracking the codes will never be difficult.
He has himself to be blamed is it that he has so much money to loose giving to the orphanage would have been better option.
Why would someone carry his seed phrase around just like that, that is not good idea, those twelve words can even carried in once head, loss of memory will only cause one to forget but for safety reasons write it down.
I don’t know if anyone has found any information on the aftermaths of the seed being displayed in the manner it was. Fortunately, the handwriting is pretty awful, making it not straight forward at all to depict the actual 24 words on the list (don’t tell me no one has given it a go with the BIP39 list alongside).
What seems surprising is that the video is actually circulating freely around the internet. I’d have thought that Nevada police recorded videos are not accessible to browse unless deliberately released for the public interest, and this particular case doesn’t seem to be of the kind.
One side effect to ponder is that, regarless of the funds themselves, the seed will give whomever access to browse through all the historical TXs related to the wallet, which although semi-anonymous, can lead to revealing information one would not want to be revealed.
Note:
Funny article heading I stumbled across whilst trying to find additional information on the event:
https://pcomnews.xyz/police-camera-leaks-suspects-sperm-sentence-during-vehicle-inspection/
Some internet posts that copy article from third-party sources sometimes make some comical minor adjustments, which change the meaning altogether …
What seems surprising is that the video is actually circulating freely around the internet. I’d have thought that Nevada police recorded videos are not accessible to browse unless deliberately released for the public interest, and this particular case doesn’t seem to be of the kind.
One side effect to ponder is that, regarless of the funds themselves, the seed will give whomever access to browse through all the historical TXs related to the wallet, which although semi-anonymous, can lead to revealing information one would not want to be revealed.
Note:
Funny article heading I stumbled across whilst trying to find additional information on the event:
https://pcomnews.xyz/police-camera-leaks-suspects-sperm-sentence-during-vehicle-inspection/
Some internet posts that copy article from third-party sources sometimes make some comical minor adjustments, which change the meaning altogether …
I read about a guy who was a tattoo artist.
He had twelve mistresses and satisfied each of those twelve girls. Over time, he bought himself 5 bitcoins and the question arose before him - how to store the seed phrase?
He had an idea. On the butt of each of his mistresses, he tattooed one of the words of the seed phrase. He believed that this was a very reliable way to store seeds, but this turned out not to be the case. All of his 12 mistresses once met, began to communicate with each other and conspired to rob him. They have long guessed that the English word tattooed on their buttocks is the key to great wealth.
The most difficult thing for them was to solve the sequence of these 12 words, but in the end they solved this riddle.
They eventually withdrew his bitcoins to their bitcoin addresses and stopped communicating with the guy.
As a result, this guy was very disappointed in this way of storing seed phrases.
He had twelve mistresses and satisfied each of those twelve girls. Over time, he bought himself 5 bitcoins and the question arose before him - how to store the seed phrase?
He had an idea. On the butt of each of his mistresses, he tattooed one of the words of the seed phrase. He believed that this was a very reliable way to store seeds, but this turned out not to be the case. All of his 12 mistresses once met, began to communicate with each other and conspired to rob him. They have long guessed that the English word tattooed on their buttocks is the key to great wealth.
The most difficult thing for them was to solve the sequence of these 12 words, but in the end they solved this riddle.
They eventually withdrew his bitcoins to their bitcoin addresses and stopped communicating with the guy.
As a result, this guy was very disappointed in this way of storing seed phrases.
How can he even do such a thing even the dumpest human will crack that code down, cracking the codes will never be difficult.
He has himself to be blamed is it that he has so much money to loose giving to the orphanage would have been better option.
Why would someone carry his seed phrase around just like that, that is not good idea, those twelve words can even carried in once head, loss of memory will only cause one to forget but for safety reasons write it down.
I wonder why someone need to carry his own seed phrase to everywhere he go? does there's a chance he will use huge amount during travelling? I don't think so, because you must have enough cash in hands and not put all of your money in Bitcoin. If you're really want to transact with Bitcoin (considering you're travelling to country that accept Bitcoin like El Salvador and Central African Republic) you can install non custodial wallet on your phone and only carry small amount on there.
Is there a possible way that can be avoided?
1. Why do you need the seed go with you? There are many ways of thought an maybe, just maybe, you don't need the seed go with you. Imho this would be best.
2. If there's a backup seed still there at home, maybe storing it encrypted / password protected on 1-2 USB sticks would do the job.
3. The seed is a text, hence it can be disguised in plain sight, like (already said) underlining words in a book, or even having 2 pieces of paper with different parts of the seed (people can mistake them for 12-words seed and they are together a 24-words seed).
4. Go to https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0039/english.txt and convert your list of words into a list of corresponding numbers.
I'm just shocked and believe how the police body cam can find seeds that easily during a simple car inspection because they could hide the seeds in any place and I think if they could find the seeds like that there is no way to be completely sure about hiding a seed phrase.
A car is just so small that you can eventually see anything that was keep inside especially if an "inspection" is done because most cars have common place where to keep belongings either in compartments, under the seat, etc.About the how's on making the seed secured especially those written in papers, i guess it differs from person to person and experiences.
With my paper backup i don't write numbers or even put "Ledger" or anything related to crypto in that backup just to be safe to anyone else.
People should not straight-forward just write their seed phrases on a piece of paper or something. That's just too easy to figure out in case of unexpected incidents. Bitcoin is becoming more popular each day and more people have hints about what is a seed phrase already. What happened in the news is unlikely to repeat but there are too many possible scenarios in that other people might be able to see those seed phrases. Better to make it something of a puzzle so that nobody will think they are seed phrases.
You need to be creative, and whatever you end with, don't reveal it with anyone.
Think hide in plain sight, like a book with marks. Or just don't have it with you but somewhere online encrypted with a very good password only you know, stenographed in some image file, etc..
Hiding a few words is far easier than hiding a stash of cash or ingots. There is no need to carry with you but the minimal for the travel. You can also have multiple wallets just keep large amounts in cold ones.
Think hide in plain sight, like a book with marks. Or just don't have it with you but somewhere online encrypted with a very good password only you know, stenographed in some image file, etc..
Hiding a few words is far easier than hiding a stash of cash or ingots. There is no need to carry with you but the minimal for the travel. You can also have multiple wallets just keep large amounts in cold ones.
I read about a guy who was a tattoo artist.
He had twelve mistresses and satisfied each of those twelve girls. Over time, he bought himself 5 bitcoins and the question arose before him - how to store the seed phrase?
He had an idea. On the butt of each of his mistresses, he tattooed one of the words of the seed phrase. He believed that this was a very reliable way to store seeds, but this turned out not to be the case. All of his 12 mistresses once met, began to communicate with each other and conspired to rob him. They have long guessed that the English word tattooed on their buttocks is the key to great wealth.
The most difficult thing for them was to solve the sequence of these 12 words, but in the end they solved this riddle.
They eventually withdrew his bitcoins to their bitcoin addresses and stopped communicating with the guy.
As a result, this guy was very disappointed in this way of storing seed phrases.
He had twelve mistresses and satisfied each of those twelve girls. Over time, he bought himself 5 bitcoins and the question arose before him - how to store the seed phrase?
He had an idea. On the butt of each of his mistresses, he tattooed one of the words of the seed phrase. He believed that this was a very reliable way to store seeds, but this turned out not to be the case. All of his 12 mistresses once met, began to communicate with each other and conspired to rob him. They have long guessed that the English word tattooed on their buttocks is the key to great wealth.
The most difficult thing for them was to solve the sequence of these 12 words, but in the end they solved this riddle.
They eventually withdrew his bitcoins to their bitcoin addresses and stopped communicating with the guy.
As a result, this guy was very disappointed in this way of storing seed phrases.
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