<p>From Michał Zabielski's comment:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Unfortunately you are out of luck. Never share your word phrase with anyone. If you do, you effectively give access to your money to someone else. If someone asks you about your word phrase (or anything related to private keys) you can be pretty sure that it’s a scam.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>To clarify, the device's security was not breached. In this case the device worked just fine. Unfortunately you shared information which you were required to keep secret. (From Nate Eldredge's comment).</p>
<p>Luckily the BCH was not taken, because it was still in your wallet, you had time to retrieve it which it sounds like you did:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I was able to move the BCH from one account to another account I added on the Ledger Nano s. From there I was able to sent the BCH to external wallet. I did put my 24 word recovery phrase out there just for a second . From that a bad guy was able to search for, locate, send the cryptos stored on my Nano S to another address.</p>
<p>An email trade approval conformation would be a great addition to security here.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Unfortunately your seed words directly create your private keys, which are all that is needed to spend funds in the bitcoin network. Bitcoin only understands signatures from private keys, there is no room for email verification or anything, because of how the network works. So I'm afraid something like that wouldn't be possible. That is why sharing your seed words or private keys is so dangerous.</p>
<p>Sorry for your loss.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-27T10:32:03.020Z
Right. The purpose of a hardware wallet is to keep your seed secure. It won't do you any good if you tell someone your seed.
David Schwartz
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-05T02:55:02.080Z
2018-01-05T02:55:02.080Z
2020-06-16T11:10:03.350Z
meshcollider
<blockquote>
<p><strong>I went to an SBTC website and was instructed to enter BTC address and word phrases.</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<p>This mistake (falling for a scam) seems like it might stem from a misunderstanding about how Bitcoin works</p>
<h2>What do wallets contain?</h2>
<p>A leather wallet in your back pocket contains money (e.g. in the form of dollar bills)</p>
<p><strong>A bitcoin wallet does not contain money.</strong></p>
<p>The only important thing stored in a Bitcoin wallet is a private-key. This private-key is a large number that allows the holder to control movements of money in the public blockchain. The private key is calculated from the word-phrase. If you give that word phrase to someone, you are giving them your private key. If they have your private key they have control over all your money.</p>
<h2>How do &quot;airdrops&quot; of forked altcoins work?</h2>
<p>When someone forks an altcoin from Bitcoin, they sometimes give the owners of Bitcoin a proportionate amount of the new coin. This is essentially done by putting an amount of the new coin under the control of the same private key -- <strong>but they don't need to know the private key to do this</strong>. They often just base their altcoin's blockchain on the Bitcoin blockchain up to a certain date. This means that Bitcoin keys automatically become valid altcoin keys without any process involving knowledge of the private keys. If you think about it, people can give you Bitcoin without needing your private key, so why shouldn't they be able to give you altcoin without knowing your private key?</p>
<p>To exercise control over that amount of &quot;free&quot; altcoin you may need to install an altcoin wallet, or signup to an online wallet (the least safe sort of wallet) and enter your word-phrase / private-keys into that altcoin wallet. To be safe, you should only ever do so <strong><em>after</em> moving (control over) your Bitcoin to another wallet with a separate new private-key derived from a separate new word-phrase</strong>.</p>
<p><a href="https://medium.com/@jimmysong/bitcoin-diamond-super-bitcoin-bitcore-what-you-need-to-know-f49c35688a39" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Super Bitcoin - what you need to know</a> - covers how to safely claim forked altcoins</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-26T13:09:14.137Z
2019-11-26T13:35:58.910Z
2020-06-16T11:10:03.350Z
RedGrittyBrick
<p>My Ledger Nano S was drained yesterday. I lost .83 BTC and 4.11 LTC. </p>

<p>While searching for a way to claim SBTC from BTC, I went to an SBTC website and was instructed to enter BTC address and word phrases. </p>

<p>I entered my Ledger Nano S 24 word phrase for just a moment and it was rejected. </p>

<p>This morning I checked my crypto balance on my Nano S and the BTC and LTC had been sent out to another address.  The BCH I have on the Nano S is still there.  </p>

<p>I tried to send the BCH off to an external wallet but only get error messages. </p>

<p>Is the BCH data on my Nano S corrupted? Can you offer any hope? </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-04T23:16:06.857Z
Unfortunately you are out of luck. Never share your word phrase with anyone. If you do, you effectively give access to your money to someone else. If someone asks you about your word phrase (or anything related to private keys) you can be pretty sure that it’s a scam.
Michał Zabielski
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-04T23:17:22.997Z
@MichałZabielski: OP is out of luck with the BTC and LTC.  If the BCH has not been spent there is still time to save it.  I don't know how to do that, but maybe someone else does.
Nate Eldredge
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-04T23:18:05.613Z
OP: Please tell us what error messages you got.  People here are not psychic and cannot help you with an error if they don't know what it is.  Please use the edit button to add details to your question; be as specific as you can.
Nate Eldredge
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-04T23:19:43.257Z
By the way, it's misleading to call this a "hack" since that would imply that the device's security was breached.  In this case the device worked just fine.  Unfortunately you shared information which you were required to keep secret.
Nate Eldredge
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-05T00:17:11.180Z
My thanks to you folks that responded to my post. I was able to move the BCH from one account to another account I added on the Ledger Nano s. From there I was able to sent the BCH to external wallet. I did put my 24 word recovery phrase out there just for a second . From that a bad guy was able to search for, locate, send the cryptos stored on my Nano S to another address. An email trade approval conformation would be a great addition to security here. Although what was lost was  profit ($12790.) from my initial investment. I do feel like a complete idiot.  I am earning the hard way.
J E GRISSOM
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-01-05T02:45:01.793Z
As long as you are learning, that is the main thing :) Sorry for your loss. I will write the main points in an answer to this question so the question doesn't remain unanswered, because it looks like it has been answered in comments
meshcollider
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-11-27T10:33:38.803Z
@JEGRISSOM An email trade approval from who to who? If you think it through, there's nobody to send such a request for approval and nothing anyone could do with an approval if it was approved.
David Schwartz
<bitcoin-cash><ledger-hardware-wallet>
The cryptocurrency I stored on a Ledger Nano S was stolen
J E GRISSOM
# The cryptocurrency I stored on a Ledger Nano S was stolen

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-01-04)

My Ledger Nano S was drained yesterday. I lost .83 BTC and 4.11 LTC.

While searching for a way to claim SBTC from BTC, I went to an SBTC website and was instructed to enter BTC address and word phrases.

I entered my Ledger Nano S 24 word phrase for just a moment and it was rejected.

This morning I checked my crypto balance on my Nano S and the BTC and LTC had been sent out to another address. The BCH I have on the Nano S is still there.

I tried to send the BCH off to an external wallet but only get error messages.

Is the BCH data on my Nano S corrupted? Can you offer any hope?

**Tags:** bitcoin-cash, ledger-hardware-wallet

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Unfortunately you are out of luck. Never share your word phrase with anyone. If you do, you effectively give access to your money to someone else. If someone asks you about your word phrase (or anything related to private keys) you can be pretty sure that it’s a scam.  
> **username_2**: @username_1: OP is out of luck with the BTC and LTC.  If the BCH has not been spent there is still time to save it.  I don't know how to do that, but maybe someone else does.  
> **username_2**: OP: Please tell us what error messages you got.  People here are not psychic and cannot help you with an error if they don't know what it is.  Please use the edit button to add details to your question; be as specific as you can.  
> **username_2**: By the way, it's misleading to call this a "hack" since that would imply that the device's security was breached.  In this case the device worked just fine.  Unfortunately you shared information which you were required to keep secret.  
> **username_0**: My thanks to you folks that responded to my post. I was able to move the BCH from one account to another account I added on the Ledger Nano s. From there I was able to sent the BCH to external wallet. I did put my 24 word recovery phrase out there just for a second . From that a bad guy was able to search for, locate, send the cryptos stored on my Nano S to another address. An email trade approval conformation would be a great addition to security here. Although what was lost was  profit ($12790.) from my initial investment. I do feel like a complete idiot.  I am earning the hard way.  
> **username_3**: As long as you are learning, that is the main thing :) Sorry for your loss. I will write the main points in an answer to this question so the question doesn't remain unanswered, because it looks like it has been answered in comments  
> **username_4**: @username_0 An email trade approval from who to who? If you think it through, there's nobody to send such a request for approval and nothing anyone could do with an approval if it was approved.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-01-05. Score: 4

From username_1 username_1's comment:

> Unfortunately you are out of luck. Never share your word phrase with anyone. If you do, you effectively give access to your money to someone else. If someone asks you about your word phrase (or anything related to private keys) you can be pretty sure that it’s a scam.

To clarify, the device's security was not breached. In this case the device worked just fine. Unfortunately you shared information which you were required to keep secret. (From username_2 username_2's comment).

Luckily the BCH was not taken, because it was still in your wallet, you had time to retrieve it which it sounds like you did:

> I was able to move the BCH from one account to another account I added on the Ledger Nano s. From there I was able to sent the BCH to external wallet. I did put my 24 word recovery phrase out there just for a second . From that a bad guy was able to search for, locate, send the cryptos stored on my Nano S to another address.
>
> An email trade approval conformation would be a great addition to security here.

Unfortunately your seed words directly create your private keys, which are all that is needed to spend funds in the bitcoin network. Bitcoin only understands signatures from private keys, there is no room for email verification or anything, because of how the network works. So I'm afraid something like that wouldn't be possible. That is why sharing your seed words or private keys is so dangerous.

Sorry for your loss.

> **Comments:**
> **username_4**: Right. The purpose of a hardware wallet is to keep your seed secure. It won't do you any good if you tell someone your seed.  

---

### Answer by username_5 on 2019-11-26. Score: 0

> **I went to an SBTC website and was instructed to enter BTC address and word phrases.**

This mistake (falling for a scam) seems like it might stem from a misunderstanding about how Bitcoin works

## What do wallets contain?

A leather wallet in your back pocket contains money (e.g. in the form of dollar bills)

**A bitcoin wallet does not contain money.**

The only important thing stored in a Bitcoin wallet is a private-key. This private-key is a large number that allows the holder to control movements of money in the public blockchain. The private key is calculated from the word-phrase. If you give that word phrase to someone, you are giving them your private key. If they have your private key they have control over all your money.

## How do "airdrops" of forked altcoins work?

When someone forks an altcoin from Bitcoin, they sometimes give the owners of Bitcoin a proportionate amount of the new coin. This is essentially done by putting an amount of the new coin under the control of the same private key -- **but they don't need to know the private key to do this**. They often just base their altcoin's blockchain on the Bitcoin blockchain up to a certain date. This means that Bitcoin keys automatically become valid altcoin keys without any process involving knowledge of the private keys. If you think about it, people can give you Bitcoin without needing your private key, so why shouldn't they be able to give you altcoin without knowing your private key?

To exercise control over that amount of "free" altcoin you may need to install an altcoin wallet, or signup to an online wallet (the least safe sort of wallet) and enter your word-phrase / private-keys into that altcoin wallet. To be safe, you should only ever do so ***after* moving (control over) your Bitcoin to another wallet with a separate new private-key derived from a separate new word-phrase**.

[Super Bitcoin - what you need to know](https://medium.com/@jimmysong/bitcoin-diamond-super-bitcoin-bitcore-what-you-need-to-know-f49c35688a39) - covers how to safely claim forked altcoins


---

