I made a terrible mistake, and I feel stupid for falling into it! My original account, @emvhie035 was compromised, so here I am starting again. I hope this will be the last time I'll fall schemes like that.

What happened

I'm not a HIVE regular. Since I first signed up almost a year ago, I only made eight blog posts and gained only six followers. I'm still learning the ropes. Somehow, I feel like the blockchain learning curve is a bit "steep". All I know is to write, but when it comes to blockchain, I feel like a dummy.

And when someone commented on my recent post, I obliged without thinking twice! Though I have a hunch that what he's telling me is too good to be true, still I fell into his phishing.

Perhaps it's because I don't have that much in my HIVE wallet so I really didn't mind "trying out" what he's asking me to do. I was able to transfer my HIVE earnings a few weeks ago and most of which I have converted to fiat. It's not that much of an earning, but at least, losing a few HBDs is not heart-shattering on my part. I wish I could say the same for others who might have lost a fortune from this scheme.

The Scheme

The commenter posted something like, I should vote for Drakos as a witness, and he personally vouches for him that's why the campaigning. I checked this Drakos on the list of witness voting and there he is, at the 30th spot. So I thought the link is legit.

I opened the link and I was brought to a page with a very minimalist design. Minimalist because it definitely has nothing!

When you click on the Vote Now button, it will lead you to a familiar page - the Hivesigner login page. Having gone through numerous Hivesigner login pages before, I didn't mind keying in my info. BUT WHAT A TERRIBLE MISTAKE!

First: I did not notice it was asking for Owner Keys!
and Second: I did not notice the url!

And the rest, they say, is history.

The Trail

I tried tracking down where my funds went. It's good that once a transaction is posted in the blockchain, it stays documented. So I took a screenshot of what happened hours before I discovered I no longer have full access to my Hive account.

And look at the number of transactions this certain @wwefun had in his ledger! Perhaps they fell into the same trap as me? I don't know.

I searched for @wwefun and I discovered it has been doing the same thing on Steemit 6 months ago! Or perhaps their scheme has been around for a long time. I don't know, and I wonder how many more accounts and hard-earned cryptos have they taken from unsuspecting users like me.

Bottomline

I know it's my mistake for being too gullible (stupid fits well, isn't it? Haha!) As I write this, I can't help but laugh about what happened. But still, it is a serious matter to take into consideration.

Your keys, your crypto.
Lose your keys, lose your crypto.
And there is no one else to blame but you.
So next time, be more careful.
If it's too good to be true, probably it is.
If it seems sketchy, it's because it is.

It doesn't hurt to be too careful. The internet is full of cons and hackers and phishers and scammers. Be warned.

CAVEAT: In case someone messages you, or comments as @emvhie035, please disregard. I no longer have access to that account.