<p>To steal money secured by the private keys stored by a wallet, a thief needs</p>
<ul>
<li>access to the wallet data files or a copy of them.</li>
<li>knowledge of any passphrase (or PIN etc) used to encrypt the keys in those files.</li>
</ul>
<p>However, if someone has been tricked by a scammer, it is certainly possible that the victim was also tricked into giving the scammer access to their computer, perhaps by installing software suggested by the scammer, perhaps by giving screen-sharing access to someone who they thought was a helper. Their computer might have had back-door access and/or keyloggers installed.</p>
<p>It would perhaps be prudent to assume the worst. I would make a new wallet, with new keys, on a new, clean computer using nothing from the existing computer. I would create an on-chain transaction to move money to that clean environment.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-12-09T19:15:18.783Z
i think for a piece of mind im going to take your advice. getting new phone today before i go into anything. these guys are good. not worth  the risk. thanks mate
Russ
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-12-09T14:15:44.303Z
2024-12-09T14:15:44.303Z
RedGrittyBrick
<p>To access your wallet, someone would need both your seed phrase and your passphrase. If all you did was send some coins to another address then the fraudsters would have neither of these, so the short answer would be &quot;no&quot;.</p>
<p>If you think that someone else may have your seed phrase then I would recommend moving your remaining coins to another wallet as the passphrase could be guessed. The passphrase is still required to access the wallet however, assuming you have a passphrase set.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-12-09T15:34:30.087Z
2024-12-09T15:34:30.087Z
dashingdove
<p>I sent crypto from my cold wallet to a scam. I didn't give out PIN or passphrase. Can these guys access my wallet now?</p>

<fraud>
Can fraudsters access my wallet if I didn't give them my PIN or passphrase?
Russ
# Can fraudsters access my wallet if I didn't give them my PIN or passphrase?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-12-09)

I sent crypto from my cold wallet to a scam. I didn't give out PIN or passphrase. Can these guys access my wallet now?

**Tags:** fraud


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-12-09. Score: 0

To steal money secured by the private keys stored by a wallet, a thief needs

* access to the wallet data files or a copy of them.
* knowledge of any passphrase (or PIN etc) used to encrypt the keys in those files.

However, if someone has been tricked by a scammer, it is certainly possible that the victim was also tricked into giving the scammer access to their computer, perhaps by installing software suggested by the scammer, perhaps by giving screen-sharing access to someone who they thought was a helper. Their computer might have had back-door access and/or keyloggers installed.

It would perhaps be prudent to assume the worst. I would make a new wallet, with new keys, on a new, clean computer using nothing from the existing computer. I would create an on-chain transaction to move money to that clean environment.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: i think for a piece of mind im going to take your advice. getting new phone today before i go into anything. these guys are good. not worth  the risk. thanks mate  

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### Answer by username_2 on 2024-12-09. Score: 0

To access your wallet, someone would need both your seed phrase and your passphrase. If all you did was send some coins to another address then the fraudsters would have neither of these, so the short answer would be "no".

If you think that someone else may have your seed phrase then I would recommend moving your remaining coins to another wallet as the passphrase could be guessed. The passphrase is still required to access the wallet however, assuming you have a passphrase set.


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