The Propeller – 🚨 Don’t Get Scammed! – 12-15-2024

One hundred and twenty-one years ago, on a December morning in a small North Carolina town, Wilbur and Orville Wright became the first people to successfully pilot an airplane. The brothers took turns helming their flying machine, which they’d built in sections in the back of their Dayton, Ohio bicycle shop.

Orville was first in the cockpit, taking flight for a total of 12 seconds. Wilbur piloted the fourth and final flight of the day, remaining airborne for 59 seconds and travelling 852 feet. That afternoon, the pair walked 4 miles to Kitty Hawk to send their father a telegram announcing their achievement — and informing him they’d be home for Christmas. Watch early footage of them taking to the skies here:   https://youtu.be/1rJ3Ga75OXE

As a tech expert, I’ve long advocated for stronger security measures, and now there’s a new feature you should enable to protect your phone from SIM swap and port-out attacks. These attacks allow hackers to impersonate you, steal your phone number, and gain access to sensitive accounts by intercepting SMS-based two-factor authentication (2FA) codes.

Thanks to a new FCC rule, cell carriers are now required to offer a free “account lock” feature to block unauthorized number transfers. Here’s why it matters and how to enable it.

How the Feature Works

This “account lock” prevents your phone number from being transferred to another device or carrier without your explicit approval. It’s akin to a credit freeze, adding a significant security layer. Carriers must also notify you before any number transfer or SIM change occurs, giving you a chance to stop an attack.

How to Enable It

Each carrier has a unique name and setup process:

• AT&T: Look for “Wireless Account Lock” in the MyAT&T app.
• T-Mobile: Enable “SIM Protection” and “Port-Out Protection” in your account settings.
• Verizon: Toggle “SIM Protection” and “Number Lock” on via the web.
• Subsidiary carriers like Google Fi and Mint Mobile offer similar options, typically labeled “Number Lock.”

If your carrier doesn’t prominently list the feature, contact customer support.

Why It’s Important

Hackers increasingly target phones for 2FA codes to access financial accounts, steal cryptocurrency, or commit other crimes. Even if you use stronger security like hardware tokens, enabling this feature ensures added peace of mind.

I enabled this feature as soon as it was available and recommend you do the same. It’s a simple, effective way to protect your digital identity.

Let’s make security a top priority – let me know if you enabled this feature yet.

Here is a tale of digital dollars and dastardly deception! Today, someone accidentally sent a jaw-dropping $68 million to the wrong crypto address. How? They fell victim to the sneaky scam known as address poisoning. Here’s the play-by-play:

The Test Run
This morning, Victim Wallet 1 (VW1) was living the high life with a cool $70 million. To ensure a safe transfer of the bulk, VW1 sent a $150 test transaction to Victim Wallet 2 (VW2), with the address: 0xd9a1b0b1e1ae382dbdc898ea68012ffcb2853a91. All seemed smooth, right?

Enter the Scammer
But lo and behold! Just three minutes later, another address eerily similar, 0xd9a1c3788d81257612e2581a6ea0ada244853a91 sent a zero-value transaction back to VW1. Let’s call this sinister address the Scammer Address.

The wallet software now displayed both VW2 and the Scammer Address in its history. And guess which address looked freshest? That’s right, the Scammer Address, now perched at the top of the recent transaction list like a sneaky little imp.

The Big Kahuna Transfer
VW1 verified that the $150 test transaction to VW2 went through without a hitch. All systems go! Time for the $68 million transfer.

So, they opened their wallet, saw the familiar 0xd9a1…3a91 at the top of the history, and—click—sent the money.

Cue the panic music.

The real VW2 address? 0xd9a1b0b1e1ae382dbdc898ea68012ffcb2853a91.
The address that got $68 million? 0xd9a1c3788d81257612e2581a6ea0ada244853a91.

Close enough for jazz, but not close enough to recover millions. Oops.

The Moral of the Story
So, what can we learn from this tale of woe? A few things, my friends:

1. Check the FULL address, not just the first and last few characters.
2. Don’t blindly trust your wallet’s recently used address history. Scammers are crafty, and address poisoning is designed to exploit that.
3. Beware of clipboard malware. Always double-check the pasted address before hitting “send.”

And remember: VERIFY, VERIFY, VERIFY.

Knowing is half the battle. The other half? Not losing $68 million in one click.

“Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand.” 
Neil Armstrong

This quote by Neil Armstrong highlights how curiosity drives human discovery. The unknown sparks fascination, and that fascination fuels our quest for knowledge and understanding. Mystery inspires exploration and learning, forming the foundation of progress.