Singapore Police Reveal Early Cases of Tampered Ledger Wallets Causing Millions in Losses
Singapore police have disclosed that since September 10, there have been at least two confirmed incidents of tampered Ledger hardware wallets resulting in combined losses of approximately 3.5 million Singapore dollars (about 2.7 million USD). Local reports about these incidents emerged nearly a month before broader awareness of the issue.
In an advisory released on Wednesday, the Singapore Police Force announced that their preliminary investigations uncovered malicious hardware components embedded in Ledger wallets purchased from certain retail outlets within Singapore.
This announcement offers specific local loss amounts and a timeline preceding the public revelation of the issue on October 9. The wider incident first came to light following reports of losses linked to devices sold via CryptoBilis, an authorized Ledger reseller operating in Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
Shortly after, Mark Karpelès, the former CEO of Mt. Gox, reported that a Ledger Flex device he bought at Singapore’s airport contained a spying implant.
Another Ledger user stated that their device, purchased from the local IT retailer Challenger, had been tampered with. This user later confirmed receiving a replacement device from Ledger.
On October 13, Ledger announced it has requested retailers across Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Hong Kong to halt sales of Ledger devices temporarily while investigations continue.
The Singapore police commented that they are working closely with Ledger, which is currently reviewing all affected cases as the police investigations move forward.
why
Why it matters
This matter highlights critical security concerns tied to hardware wallet tampering, underlining the importance of vigilant retail practices and swift investigatory cooperation to protect users’ crypto assets.
Prepared from the source material with AI-assisted editing and checked against the supplied facts.
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