The issue of counterfeit merchandise has reached the world of cryptocurrency. Last week, the manufacturer of Trezor One hardware wallet posted a warning for its clients. The blog post states that there are one-to-one replicas of their product on the market, which pose a threat to consumers.
A New Threat for Crypto Owners: Fake Hardware Wallets
Trezor acknowledged that their flagship hardware wallet is copied by other legitimate manufacturers and sold under different brand names. However, this instance refers to a product that is sold as an original Trezor product.
The reality is that it has nothing to do with the company and Trezor does not endorse it or offer any security warranties for it. In other words, a fake Trezor One wallet can cause consumers to lose the cryptocurrencies they hold.
How to Identify a Fake Trezor One Wallet
The company posted photos showing side by side comparisons between the genuine product and the fake one. At a first glance, they look almost identical. The packaging has the same shape, size and the writing uses the same typeface, size and colours.
However, the seal of the product gives away the fake. Genuine Trezor One cryptocurrency wallets have the brand name written in holographic silver on the seal. The fake product has the brand printed in black letters.
Also, the tag on the label with the serial number of the product differs. The fake label is larger than the original one and contains the information “Made in China”. This information does not appear on a genuine Trezor One hardware crypto wallet.
A Few Simple Ways to Avoid Becoming a Victim of Crypto Theft
The number one warning sign of a fake product is always the price. Counterfeiters offer their wares at highly discounted prices, sometimes beyond any commercial logic. Consumers must understand that genuine products are sometimes offered at a special discounted price. When this discount would make it unlikely to cover the production cost, it is most certainly a counterfeit product.
Trezor warns that the fake cryptocurrency wallets bearing their name are currently available at unaffiliated online stores. The company recommends its clients to buy only from trusted sources:
At the same time, Trezor urges anyone who suspects having a fake Trezor One wallet to stop using it immediately and report the suspicious item to the company.
You would not entrust your money to somebody who has already cheated you by selling you a different product than you thought you were buying. We, therefore, recommend not to use this device and report it to us, which would help us fight these scams and provide you with a legitimate device.
The full details on genuine Trezor One hardware wallets are available on the company’s Wiki page.
The risks of using a fake crypto wallet are huge. There is always a possibility that the counterfeiters have included a malicious code in the software which would send all or parts of the stored funds to their own wallets.
At the same time, fake products negatively impact the reputation of the genuine manufacturer, causing them to lose current and future clients.
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