Retiree loses over $3 million worth of XRP in suspected wallet compromise
A North Carolina retiree lost over $3 million in XRP after his Ellipal hardware wallet was compromised, likely by importing the seed phrase into the app.Summary
A 54-year-old retiree from North Carolina, Brandon LaRoque, reported losing his entire life savings, totaling over $3 million (1.2 million XRP), due to a suspected compromise of his Ellipal cold wallet. The unauthorized transactions began on October 12, with the stolen XRP being dispersed across hundreds of wallets in an apparent attempt to obscure the trail, with blockchain investigator ZachXBT tracing the funds through Ripple-to-Tron bridge transactions to an illicit marketplace tied to Huione in Southeast Asia. Ellipal later stated that their investigation confirmed the loss occurred because the victim imported the cold wallet's seed phrase into the Ellipal app, effectively turning it into a hot wallet. The victim, who had planned to use the funds for retirement and buying a house, has filed reports with IC3 and local law enforcement, who noted a lack of expertise in crypto crimes, while ZachXBT warned that recovery prospects are low.
(Source：Crypto Briefing)