Imported BIP39 Seed Phrase from a Scammer into Electrum

NotATether

legendary

Activity: 1568

Merit: 6660

bitcoincleanup.com / bitmixlist.org

Quote from: ? on November 20, 2024, 04:31:27 PM

I mean, is there any risk to my other wallets, where I store my funds, being accessed by the scammer since I imported their BIP39 seed phrase? Thanks!

No, unless you are using untrusted wallet software.

If you have not downloaded any new wallet software or if you have made sure to verify the checksum and/or PGP signature of the wallet program before running it, then your other wallets will be fine.

You cannot be compromised with only a seed phrase. This is not like in Ethereum and some other coins where some malicious smart contracts might run upon creation or anything like that (and even that requires a compromised wallet software).

pooya87

legendary

Activity: 3472

Merit: 10611

Usually the scammers who publish such keys (either seed phrase or just single private keys) are trying to get greedy newbies to import them into their wallet software and then in the future make the mistake of sending funds to those addresses. Since the scammer already has the key and is monitoring it 24/7 any coins send there will be immediately stolen by the scammer.

PrivacyG

legendary

Activity: 882

Merit: 1873

Crypto Swap Exchange

Quote from: ? on November 20, 2024, 04:10:58 PM

What should i do now ?

Be extremely cautious and make sure the Seed provided by this Scammer is gone from EVERY WHERE on your Computer. You definitely do NOT want to forget about importing it into Electrum and send your Bitcoin to it by mistake. This is the first thing I would do. Try and destroy every single evidence of that Seed from my Computer.

In fact. Being as paranoid as I am. I would probably cold start by wiping my Disk clean and re installing the Operating System. But maybe that is too much.

Catenaccio

full member

Activity: 420

Merit: 120

Quote from: ? on November 20, 2024, 04:10:58 PM

I recently made the mistake of importing a BIP39 seed phrase from an online source, which I now believe was provided by a scammer. while importing it into Electrum, I received a warning that BIP39 seeds don’t meet Electrum's safety standards and that this feature is only meant to access funds from other wallets.

"Warning: BIP39 seeds can be imported in Electrum, so that users can access funds locked in other wallets. However, we do not generate BIP39 seeds, because they do not meet our safety standard. BIP39 seeds do not include a version number, which compromises compatibility with future software. We do not guarantee that BIP39 imports will always be supported in Electrum."

If you are worrying about it and if you know that it is information, honeypot from scammers, why do you want to continue?

In fact when you import a wallet mnemonic seed into Electrum wallet, after typing the mnemonic seed, you can see Options under the seed box, click on it, and you can choose BIP39 or SLIP39. If you want to continue, click on BIP39, and honestly with you I have never seen the warning message like above in your quote.

Are you sure that you download and install an official Electrum wallet?
[GUIDE] How to Safely Download and Verify Electrum.

Quote

I’m worried about the security of my other wallets.

You must worry about it when you want to import anything freely given from Internet on your device. Worrying about it after doing something risky is too late.

Quote

What should i do now ?

Stop it right now, don't repeat this practice in future.

BitMaxz

legendary

Activity: 3472

Merit: 3217

Happy New year 🤗

Quote from: ? on November 20, 2024, 05:02:23 PM

If the seed phrase I imported doesn’t give others access to my other Bitcoin wallets, why does Electrum say this?

"Warning: BIP39 seeds can be imported in Electrum, so that users can access funds locked in other wallets. However, we do not generate BIP39 seeds, because they do not meet our safety standard. BIP39 seeds do not include a version number, which compromises compatibility with future software. We do not guarantee that BIP39 imports will always be supported in Electrum."

The first post above should be provided you the right answer.
This warning exist because you are importing BIP39 seed that is not Electrum seed standard.
This seed usually created from other wallets or from iancoleman tool that generates BIP39 seed it supported by electrum if you enabled the BIP39 while importing the seed with a warning just like you provided above.
The warning means if you lock out from other wallets and can't able to do anything using your BIP39 seed Electrum support it.

You simply do not understand the warning, which is why you believe you are giving someone access to your wallet, which is not the case.

No one would able to access your other wallets unless they have your electrum seed phrase.

Saint-loup

legendary

Activity: 2604

Merit: 2353

It's just the Electrum point of view because they support their own format but everybody else thinks BIP39 seeds are fully safe and no other wallet I know displays this kind of warning. It would be concerning otherwise and BIP39 would need to evolve quickly towards a new protocol for the safety of all crypto users, and not only the Bitcoin ones since BIP39 seeds are used by most cryptos and multi-cryptos wallets.

PX-Z

hero member

Activity: 1554

Merit: 880

Notify wallet transaction @txnNotifierBot

Quote from: ? on November 20, 2024, 05:02:23 PM

If the seed phrase I imported doesn’t give others access to my other Bitcoin wallets, why does Electrum say this?

"Warning: BIP39 seeds can be imported in Electrum, so that users can access funds locked in other wallets. However, we do not generate BIP39 seeds, because they do not meet our safety standard. BIP39 seeds do not include a version number, which compromises compatibility with future software. We do not guarantee that BIP39 imports will always be supported in Electrum."

Doesn't it works like that? When you have copy the seed you can import it to any wallet supported that kind of seed phrase just like electrum. But since electrum has its own standard way of generating seed, they can't guarantee you that it (BIP39) will be supported for few more years which means they will drop the support anytime soon.

It doesn't mean that the hackers own that seed can penetrate your device by just you importing that seed to them, although there are some scam for that strategy for alts/tokens smart contract but it doesn't work for electrum.

Kruw

member

Activity: 378

Merit: 93

Enable v2transport=1 and mempoolfullrbf=1

Quote from: ? on November 20, 2024, 05:02:23 PM

If the seed phrase I imported doesn’t give others access to my other Bitcoin wallets, why does Electrum say this?

"Warning: BIP39 seeds can be imported in Electrum, so that users can access funds locked in other wallets. However, we do not generate BIP39 seeds, because they do not meet our safety standard. BIP39 seeds do not include a version number, which compromises compatibility with future software. We do not guarantee that BIP39 imports will always be supported in Electrum."

"so that users can access funds locked in other wallets" means Electrum allows you to restore BIP39 seed phrases even though Electrum doesn't allow you to create them.

?

Activity: -

Merit: -

Quote from: Kruw on November 20, 2024, 04:49:58 PM

Quote from: ? on November 20, 2024, 04:24:03 PM

So it means if i have other wallets on same pc same seed type BIP39 but doesn't have same seed phrase it means i'm secure? is this warning means only if i created new wallet with the seed that the scammer gave me ? Please explain more, thanks so much!

The seed phrase you received gives you access to someone else's wallet. There's no way that someone can access your wallets by giving away their seed phrase.

Quote from: Hatchy on November 20, 2024, 04:43:01 PM

Although importing the seed phrase might not harm your other wallets, Electrum's warnings are precautionary. I'm curious, why did you import a seed phrase from someone online? Be cautious online, as phishing links can empty your wallet.

It's likely OP received a spam message with a USDT filled wallet on some altcoin chain. The scammer gives away the seed phrase so that others will load the wallet with ETH or TRX to pay the transaction fee for spending the USDT. This allows the scammer to instantly sweep the ETH or TRX deposited by the victim while the USDT remains in the same place.

If the seed phrase I imported doesn’t give others access to my other Bitcoin wallets, why does Electrum say this?

"Warning: BIP39 seeds can be imported in Electrum, so that users can access funds locked in other wallets. However, we do not generate BIP39 seeds, because they do not meet our safety standard. BIP39 seeds do not include a version number, which compromises compatibility with future software. We do not guarantee that BIP39 imports will always be supported in Electrum."

Kruw

member

Activity: 378

Merit: 93

Enable v2transport=1 and mempoolfullrbf=1

Quote from: ? on November 20, 2024, 04:24:03 PM

So it means if i have other wallets on same pc same seed type BIP39 but doesn't have same seed phrase it means i'm secure? is this warning means only if i created new wallet with the seed that the scammer gave me ? Please explain more, thanks so much!

The seed phrase you received gives you access to someone else's wallet. There's no way that someone can access your wallets by giving away their seed phrase.

Quote from: Hatchy on November 20, 2024, 04:43:01 PM

Although importing the seed phrase might not harm your other wallets, Electrum's warnings are precautionary. I'm curious, why did you import a seed phrase from someone online? Be cautious online, as phishing links can empty your wallet.

It's likely OP received a spam message with a USDT filled wallet on some altcoin chain. The scammer gives away the seed phrase so that others will load the wallet with ETH or TRX to pay the transaction fee for spending the USDT. This allows the scammer to instantly sweep the ETH or TRX deposited by the victim while the USDT remains in the same place.

Hatchy

sr. member

Activity: 336

Merit: 365

The Alliance Of Bitcointalk Translators - ENG>PID

Although importing the seed phrase might not harm your other wallets, Electrum's warnings are precautionary. I'm curious, why did you import a seed phrase from someone online? Be cautious online, as phishing links can empty your wallet.

For safety, consider deleting the wallet.dat file from your computer, as it might be corrupted, and then reimport only your main wallets back using your own seed phrase. This ensures your wallet's security.

Remember, never import seed phrases from untrusted sources or click suspicious links, as they can compromise your wallet's security.

?

Activity: -

Merit: -

I mean, is there any risk to my other wallets, where I store my funds, being accessed by the scammer since I imported their BIP39 seed phrase? Thanks!

?

Activity: -

Merit: -

Quote from: Kruw on November 20, 2024, 04:14:54 PM

There's no risk to using a BIP39 seed, this warning exists because Electrum has its own custom seed standard that isn't supported by other wallets.

If you aren't running your own full node, scanning the addresses from the scammer's seed will reveal your IP address to public Electrum servers, so be mindful of your privacy.

So it means if i have other wallets on same pc same seed type BIP39 but doesn't have same seed phrase it means i'm secure? is this warning means only if i created new wallet with the seed that the scammer gave me ? Please explain more, thanks so much!

BTW i use wasabi wallet too which use seed type BIP39

Kruw

member

Activity: 378

Merit: 93

Enable v2transport=1 and mempoolfullrbf=1

There's no risk to using a BIP39 seed, this warning exists because Electrum has its own custom seed standard that isn't supported by other wallets.

If you aren't running your own full node, scanning the addresses from the scammer's seed will reveal your IP address to public Electrum servers, so be mindful of your privacy.

?

Activity: -

Merit: -

Hi everyone,

I recently made the mistake of importing a BIP39 seed phrase from an online source, which I now believe was provided by a scammer. while importing it into Electrum, I received a warning that BIP39 seeds don’t meet Electrum's safety standards and that this feature is only meant to access funds from other wallets.

"Warning: BIP39 seeds can be imported in Electrum, so that users can access funds locked in other wallets. However, we do not generate BIP39 seeds, because they do not meet our safety standard. BIP39 seeds do not include a version number, which compromises compatibility with future software. We do not guarantee that BIP39 imports will always be supported in Electrum."

I’m worried about the security of my other wallets.

What should i do now ?

Thanks

Topic: Imported BIP39 Seed Phrase from a Scammer into Electrum (Read 169 times)