Topic: Phones on mobile wallet becoming riskier (Read 574 times)

There are reputable mobile wallets, but the risk lies more in carrying the phone with you daily, but you are also not wrong at all, people are more using phones this days for online activities, the more such online activities can be a chance of phishing attack. Experienced people can easily spot phishing attack but there is also more risk to other attacks like malware as well and for people that hold, it would have just been better on cold storage as the coins are not frequently accessed.

That is true, no matter the wallet someone is using, there are still a probabilities that money can still be stolen, no wallet is totally safe unless you that owns it is making it safe and avoid online attacks and people around you not to compromise it, but this does not change that online wallets are more/most vulnerable to attacks than offline wallets.

All wallets do have risks and the level of risk depends on what wallet is used. Mobile wallets are indeed very vulnerable to malware attacks and some phishing applications etc. because the phone is easy to be compromised because it is always online 24 hours. Meanwhile, computer devices can also be attacked by malware methods through applications that will be installed or through hidden advertisements. there will be many ways that can be done by scammers to hack mobile wallets and computer devices.
Whereas hardware wallets are not as easy as other wallets. Because security is better and need some verification.

who become vulnerable are the users themselves. they should know how to properly secure a wallet and not be careless.

this is one of the reasons why the type of wallet used is very important, we continue to advise for a push on the use of offline or cold storage for safety, using a decentralized exchange wallet is a good idea as well for mobile users but one thing that secure the safety of the coins from a lost mobile phone is when the keys to accessing the coins is protected such that only the user have access to it, the wallet can be accessed and recovered back using the keys that link access to the coins on the blockchain.


you're somewhat right but when we consider the rate of the attacks we could come about this conclusion, first you believe with me that most mobile wallets are web or online wallets, without having your ohone stolen already it is not advisable using them because they are more vulnerable to attack or data breach, while most challenges from Hardware or desktop wallet were almost from the users end being careless to how they handle their keys.

I think it all depends on the user of the wallet. It is not that only mobile wallet are vulnerable to attacks there has been a lot of reports on how desktop and hardware wallets have been attacked. Holding your assets on any wallets can be risky if a user doesn't know how to safe guard the wallet. You cannot blame on a particular device or pinpoint a particular being risky.

For sure all of us are investors because we are here to earn by putting money on crypto we think it can give profits to us. And the risk from this matter is for the huge whales because storing money from phone app wallets is not the best option to ve made knowing that their are so many scam wallets,phising attempts and also other type of attacks which hackers penetrate unto their platform.

The most secure way of accessing a online wallet i.e Electrum/Bitcoin Core connected to the internet without using a hardware wallet, would be accessing it via a computer on a home computer connected to the router via a Ethernet cable. However, that's assuming the network is safe, and the computer is safe.

Generally, most people don't know. However, as soon as you start taking your wallet with you there's additional risk, whether through theft or losing it. If you don't have a backup, and lose that phone or corruption occurs you could be screwed. However, I won't get into that here.

The most important thing to consider is a mobile phone that you're carrying on you frequently has a bigger attack surface than that of a computer at home, simply because of physical theft or threats.

I too think computer (PC) is better than phone but because people do not carry it about like phones, like I have said before too, most of my online activities is mostly through phone which still make it more vulnerable to attack, but if using computer, some people have their email on the computer active and phishing link can be sent to the email. If some people do not know how to avoid phishing messages, it can be sent to their phone, transfer the link to their computer to proceed. What is most necessary about phishing attempts is for someone to know about it and avoid it completely.

I agree with sim authentication, it is risky and have led to scam in the past, the two that are most recommended are 2fa app and hardware authenticator, but having the 2fa app on the same device you have the account you are using it for is not also good.

Freewallet? Just that it is a custodial wallet and not good to use custododial wallet, using noncustododial wallet is good to have control on your coins.

There are many fake apps on app stores, they will be noticed, removed and another one will be there again, that is true. If downloaded, that is another scam again.

If the wallet is fake which is common on app stores, malware will be included to steal the coins. But it may be in a way only addresses would be seen as the developer will have the private keys with them.

That is true, you are right but most people are using Windows, an OS that hackers also prefer to design malware for to scam multitudes. Linux is not also completely safe, just that people that are using it are not many and used more by people that know how to avoid malware, hackers prefer just not to design malware for it, just little malware are for Linux.

yea you know that mobile wallet is easy to use have better User Interface and there so much more but also the the other side is that lack of security and usually people got hacked or fall to scam. i mean yes we can still using mobile wallet but for daily transaction only

just little bit advice if you hodl lot amount of coin store to Hardware wallet cold/cold wallet

if you like farming and staking made new wallet save the private key and make sure that you are trust with the site also you can disable deposit permission after deposit on https://app.unrekt.net/

then made new regular wallet for trying new dapp receive bounty or airdrop everyday swap

and dont fall to scammer hahah

I disagree.  Smart phones are not safer than a PC is.  Generally, the approximately same conditions apply if you do not want to be the victim of a theft.  Do not download unknown APK's, do not browse random websites, do not install random Google Play software.

With Google Play, malware and spyware is even easier to install.  It is easy to create a developer account and publish a fake Bitcoin Wallet on the store.  Check out Free Wallet.  They have been scamming for years and they are still up and running.

Moreover.  If spyware is a thing you are afraid of.  It is worth noting an iOS or Android phone will have so much more spyware than a PC with Linux on it would.  And with computers you have the freedom of choosing your preferred Operating System.  When you buy an Android or an iOS phone, you just know there is no way you can change your Operating System to one that is less filled up with spyware and bloatware.

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Regards,
PrivacyG

@_act_, you don't necessarily have to have a crypto wallet in which you keep a coin on your smartphone, but a smartphone can be a vector of attack on the crypto exchange you use while trading on the go. Whether it's getting a phishing link via text message or email, or someone will try a SIM swap to access your crypto exchange account.

In short, it is not recommended to trade via smartphones and various official apps or use SMS 2FA - there are many cases where it turned out to be a fatal mistake. How easy was (or at least it was 2020) to make a SIM swap in the US -> https://www.usenix.org/system/files/soups2020-lee.pdf

Wallet on phone for an investor? Investor will have huge amount and phone is not good to be used, phone is very vulnerable, I can not have any amount I can not afford to lose on phone as a wallet, I can only use it for small amount of bitcoin or never use it at all. You can freely use paper wallet or buy a hardware wallet which are cold wallets.

just as one wouldn't want to risk his fiat bank account sensitive informations on a levity hand while handling it, same it is expected to conciously be mindful of our coins as we wouldn't lobe to loose them, scammers don't indicate their crevices on the fore head but it is our responsibility to be at alert against all related affairs that may renders us vulnerable for an attack, i see no reason why a friend should have access to one's mobile cell in the first place.

I am still wondering if we become a target of thief or people to get our phone because of some certain condition:
1. The thief exactly know about crypto world and the way to get it even through hacking account, it menas that it's not a common thief, maybe because crypto has been very popular in the area 
2. From where they know that we have certain wallets or platform in our phone? If they target people who have it, it may be because they spot us holding phone and see some spotted wallets or application. That is why it is better not to out this kind of app on the first page spot.
3. They may be the people who know us and maybe from social media, that's why it is better that we don't spot or tell social media about what we have.

But, aside from whatever condition, saving assets on  mobile wallet application is less risks. Because we know that there may be some viruses or malware, phishing link, cracked phone or others. Moreover if we are using them for long term holding. It is absolutely not recommended

It is good to physical copy down the recovery seeds of your wallet but not allowing anyone to the mobile phone you used to store crypto didn't safe you from attackers because mobile phone stores are always vulnerable to attack and thats why people are advised to only save the amount of crypto they can afford to lose on their mobile wallets.

Note: all crypto hot wallets are vulnerable to online attacks but web and mobile wallets are the most vulnerable.

A crypto investor who uses mobile phone to store coins shouldn't allow any one to access their phone, talking about close friends in this case is stupid, I use mobile wallets and I have never allowed my friends to operate my phone for any reasons, lost of phone is possible and robbery attack is a valid point but if you copy down your recovery seed at home in a safe location you can move your coins easily.

This should be a proper way to use bitcoin wallet, it does not even matters you should get a hardware wallet, but if you have some extra dollars to spare or have a amount of bitcoin, you can buy one for convenience sake and use it, instead of online wallets. But paper wallet can be used too, not for making transaction everytime but for storage, the coins that want to be used daily for transaction can be moved to online wallet, but with privacy and security in place. For this later, someone may not have a computer and just need a mobile phone for it, but not advisable.

I will say no. Both mobile and desktop wallet are online and they are both risky, but because people are taking phone around and to everywhere they are going makes it more prone to attack.

Malware are just in kilobytes, both desktop or phones can easily download it in less than a second.

If using any, you have to be careful of malware and avoid your device from downloading malware. Phones will also download malware even without the owner knowing.

If you take your wallet outside of your home, it is more prone to attacks in my opinion. I would rather prefer my home (personal) computer for little amount of bicoin for frequent transfer while I can only use mobile phone for the amount I can be able to lose because anything can happen because outside is riskier and the wallet is still an online wallet. But I do not make use of phone for wallet again.

That is just it, I can never even do that. The easier the usage, the more the device is less secure just like everyone using fingerprint today to unlock both phone and the wallet on the phone which is an easy way to steal.

If you're worried about mugging a mobile wallet is a million times better than a hardware wallet. As long as you aren't wearing a shirt with a big B with a line through it nobody will be the wiser. I always try to use multisig so an attacker (physical or digital) needs more than one of my devices to steal my coins.

You know, the smartphone I use has this feature that I can activate that makes my phone unlocks itself whenever I'm around a certain area. However, it scares me to activate and use that feature till date. It's because of incidence like you've described that hasn't made me come around to using it. Device manufacturers want to make life easier for their users and then thieves want to beat users to it. It's good to know and select what features we should activate on our devices so as to further strengthen our security and not the opposite. Once again, thanks for the insight.

When I bought the first smartphone that had this option, I also did not think too much about it, and then I accidentally read some advice from the manufacturer who warned about the possibility of such abuse. The advice is to use a fingerprint to unlock the device in a safe environment and while we are not sleeping, and to turn this option off when sleeping.

It's not just about data security on the device, but also about protecting our privacy - although jealous women (but also husbands) don't mind peeking into their partner's device from time to time.

This one cuts across every security feature we put on our devices, not just on mobile phones. Be it password, pincode, facelock or fingerprint, people can be coerced into unlocking them at gun or weapon point. However, the best preventive method is not to carry such a device that holds out treasures around. I try not to take the smartphone phone  I've important stuff on along whenever I embark on long journey or during unsure movements. By unsure movement I meant in territories inhabited by touts and hoodlums or late night outings.

Now, that's scary. I've never thought in that direction, and you're right.