Non-fungible token (NFT) artist DeeKay recently disclosed that his life savings and web3 earnings were stolen after his crypto wallets were compromised. According to DeeKay, the incident occurred during a 14-hour flight from Korea to New York, during which he was unable to access the internet, leaving him unaware of the attack as it unfolded.

DeeKay’s Accounts Compromised, NFTs Remain Intact

DeeKay shared that he had stored his seed phrase as a photo of a handwritten note, which was saved on Google Drive. Despite taking precautions by hiding the image in a random folder, there were no indications of suspicious login activity, leaving him uncertain about how the breach occurred.

He speculated that the leak could have stemmed from the physical copy of the seed phrase or possibly from a public WiFi connection he used previously. However, DeeKay emphasized that he had not knowingly interacted with any suspicious individuals or downloaded any questionable software.

Although all of his crypto funds were taken, DeeKay noted that his NFTs were left untouched. He has since begun transferring the remaining NFTs to a more secure wallet, hoping to protect the assets that were not affected by the attack.

Financial Impact and Concerns Over Cybersecurity

DeeKay expressed concern over the financial impact of the theft, particularly as his family relies on him for support. He described the situation as one of the biggest challenges he has faced, adding, “I’m left with nothing now, and this is probably the biggest challenge of my life.” DeeKay also mentioned that he is currently taking time to process the incident.

Recent Increase in Crypto-Related Security Incidents

This incident follows another high-profile case in which a crypto whale lost over $32 million in wrapped ether (spWETH) tokens due to a phishing attack. According to the blockchain security firm ScamSniffer, the assets were stolen through a malicious transaction linked to the decentralized finance protocol Spark. The attack was executed using Inferno Drainer, a known scam-as-a-service tool, and was flagged on the platform X (formerly known as Twitter).