My wallet was compromised
The Sandbox offers some advice and guidance to those with compromised cryptocurrency wallets.
The Sandbox is extremely sorry to hear that your wallet was potentially compromised or experienced an unauthorised transaction.
We understand that this is an extremely unpleasant, upsetting, and stressful situation for you. Because The Sandbox highly values each and every single member of their community and metaverse, we want to help to guide you through it as much as we possibly can as a third-party.
How did my wallet get compromised?
Here are some of the common reasons why a cryptocurrency wallet can become compromised.
The wallet's seed phrase - also sometimes key phrase, passkey, security key, or recovery phrase - was exposed to a bad individual by the wallet owner.
For example, you might have shared this seed phrase with someone posing as a member of a support team for any project or exchange on the blockchain. The Sandbox's genuine staff will never send you a DM and will never ask you for this information.
The wallet's seed phrase was exposed to a bad individual because you connected your wallet to an unofficial third-party DAPP or website, which stole this information.
The Sandbox will never advise you to connect your wallet to anywhere that is not https://www.sandbox.game.
You interacted with a fake/scam coin that was deposited into your wallet, instead of hiding it via your Etherscan/Polygonscan, etc account settings.
You have a spyware viral infection on your computer. Usually the result of visiting shady websites (ie, piracy websites), downloading compromised files (ie, cracked games), or clicking links/attachments in shady emails/DMs. Or your computer or browser is being "managed" by a "company" which has hijacked it.
You downloaded an unofficial, fake wallet app or extension that was not from the wallet's official website.
Your hardware wallet, if you have one, was compromised before or during its transit to you.
Learn more on our Account and Wallet Security page.
What should I do?
As soon as possible, you need to contact the support team for the specific, compromised third-party wallet that you are using. They will have the tools to investigate this much further for you - tools that The Sandbox doesn't have, on account of your wallet being a third-party.
MetaMask Support | Coinbase Support | Bitski Support | Venly Support
Brave Support | Ledger Support | Trezor Support
If you still have funds or NFTs in the wallet
You should move them immediately to a different wallet.
There is a withdraw button within the wallet itself, for moving funds.
Some wallets allow you to move NFTs from within the wallet itself. If it does not, you will need to use the transfer NFTs feature on NFT exchanges such as OpenSea.io
If you need to send ETH/MATIC to the wallet for gas fees - Before you do this, make sure that you check the connected sites/DAPPs settings of your wallet and revoke the access of anything that you do not recognise.
Alternatively, there's a third-party who may be able to assist here: https://revoke.cash/.
If your NFTs have been listed for sale on an NFT exchange, such as OpenSea
You need to contact the support team for the platform that your NFTs, such as LANDs, were listed on. There is usually a report button on the listing's page that you can click to reach out to their moderation team.
Changing the wallet that is attached to your account at The Sandbox
Since your wallet was compromised, you will need to cease using it and connect a new wallet to The Sandbox. See the Changing A Connected Wallet page.
Can The Sandbox recover any stolen funds or NFTs?
Sadly, no, we regret to inform you that The Sandbox cannot recover any funds or NFTs (such as LANDs) that were taken from your wallet.
Your funds and NFTs are decentralised. This means that as soon as they are in the user's wallet, the company has absolutely zero control over them. Aside from that, due to the way that the blockchain itself works on the technical level, completed transactions cannot be reverted.
Will The Sandbox compensate me for lost funds or NFTs?
No, unfortunately The Sandbox will not be able to provide you with any free replacement funds or NFTs. This would not be fair on others, and it would also negatively affect the value of the funds or NFTs for other holders and investors.
We know this may sound cold-hearted, but it is your sole responsibility to manage the security of your own cryptocurrency wallet, as well as any funds and NFTs stored in it. Our community has plenty of informational channels and educational resources to help you get to grips on the topic of security in the crypto world, it is solely your responsibility to choose to read and follow these educational materials, because we cannot force you to do so.
Can I talk to someone?
Yes, of course you can. Talking to other people is one of the best ways to get through stressful times. We have some members of staff, as well as some trusted ambassadors, in our community here at The Sandbox. You can open a private support ticket in our community for your privacy - only our staff and trusted ambassadors will see your support ticket. They may also be able to help you trace where your tokens have gone, if you need help with that, but remember that they will not be able to recover them for you.
Click here to go to The Sandbox's official Discord community.
Please note that response times may vary, due to factors such as timezones, national holidays, workloads, and the number of support tickets opened before you.
We fully understand that you will be upset and/or angry about what has happened. But please be courteous and respectful to our staff and ambassadors, as they will be towards you. They are there to help and guide you, not to be your online punching bag.
Should I report any thefts from my wallet to the police?
This is honestly a difficult question for The Sandbox to answer accurately, because different nations, and sometimes different jurisdictions within those nations, treat cryptocurrency differently. You will need to enquire with your local law enforcement department yourself in regard to this. Most likely their cybercrimes department, if they have one, or their anti-fraud department if not.
Afterword
Again, The Sandbox is just as devastated as you are that your wallet was compromised. You are very important and highly valued to us, so this news breaks our hearts.
Please make sure you have followed all of the advice on this page. As well as all the security education that we provide, such as the Account and Wallet Security page here on our knowledge base, and the informational channels in our Discord server.
We strongly advise you to invest in a hardware wallet, to improve your crypto security even further. See: What is a hardware wallet & do you need one?
And do feel free to get in touch with us and The Sandbox metaverse through our Discord community if you need someone to talk to.
The Sandbox wishes you and your wallet provider all the best in investigating what happened here. And we sincerely hope that any unsold NFTs that were stolen from you can be recovered by the NFT exchange. We hope that, if anything, this nasty and unpleasant situation is an educational experience for the future.
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