Ledger loss reports stem from panic scams, not tampered devices, says Monahan

The scariest part of the recent Ledger saga may not be the hardware at all. According to security expert Taylor Monahan, most of the fresh loss reports trace back to people who panicked and handed their recovery phrases to scammers. Speaking on the Unchained podcast, Monahan argued that the wave of reported losses reflects fear-driven fraud rather than widespread device tampering. What Monahan is actually saying Monahan’s argument is simple. Scammers saw a real security scare unfold and used the resulting anxiety as bait. Worried owners were steered toward fraudulent websites and apps. There, they typed in their 24-word recovery phrases, believing they were protecting their funds. A recovery phrase is the master key to a crypto wallet. Anyone holding those 24 words can rebuild the wallet on any device and drain it, no hardware required. Loss figures tied to the broader episode are estimated at between $70 million and $100 million, accumulated over several months. On-chain figures cluster in a tighter band, around $86 million to $93 million. The supply-chain incident that started it The panic did not come from nowhere. It grew out of a genuine supply-chain problem involving a limite...