Popular NFT artist DeeKay Kwon became a victim of cyber theft, which resulted in the loss of both his life’s savings and all his accumulated Web3 earnings from his past years working in the field. The cyber theft took place during his 14-hour flight from South Korea to New York, which made him unable to intervene as hackers emptied multiple crypto wallets.
DeeKay revealed that he had stored a handwritten seed phrase in a photo synced to Google Drive, hidden within a random folder. However, no suspicious login activity was detected, making the method of the breach unclear. He speculated that the leak could have originated from a physical copy of the seed phrase or from using public Wi-Fi in the past.
In a social media post, DeeKay expressed his distress:
“I just became a victim of cybercrime. All of my wallets were compromised, and my life savings, everything I earned as an artist in Web3, are gone.”
While his crypto funds were stolen, surprisingly, his NFTs remained untouched. To prevent further losses, DeeKay decided to move his assets into wallet storage, which provides better security against future losses.
Previous attacks on DeeKay Kwon by hackers already exist in his history. The attack on his social media platform by hackers resulted in NFT losses exceeding $150,000 in July 2022. The phisher redirected victims to an imitated website where users unknowingly confirmed harmful transactions falsely labeled as NFT minting.
According to a recent notification from DeeKay, the thief’s identity was discovered, and investigators expect to regain the stolen money.
He disclosed that the culprit was someone close to him who had access to the physical paper containing his seed phrase. This revelation suggests that the breach did not involve hacking digital accounts like Google Drive or malware-based attacks but was an inside job.
Cybersecurity experts emphasize that incidents like these highlight the importance of protecting seed phrases and other sensitive information. Storing them digitally, especially in cloud storage or personal devices, significantly increases vulnerability. Experts recommend using hardware wallets, cold storage, and multisig wallets for added security.
This case underscores the ongoing battle between digital security and cyber criminals, proving that even well-known artists and figures in the NFT space are not safe from sophisticated attacks.
