A user of web browser-based crypto wallet MetaMask has received unexpected help from a white hacker who has helped him recover part of his funds, The Block has reported.
The user, who had been the victim of a phishing attack, had $240,000 in his wallet, a figure far too high for a web browser-based wallet, which is considered to be less secure than hardware wallets.
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The user posted a message on Reddit explaining what was happening hoping to receive some kind of help. And it came from Alex Manuskin, a former blockchain researcher at ZenGo. He verified the user was indeed the owner of the wallet under attack and asked for his private keys.
This done, he emptied all the ETH from the wallet to prevent the hacker from being able to make further external transfers, as it is necessary to pay an amount of ETH as a fee. Once this was done, he used a complex mechanism based on flash contracts to send the funds to another wallet not controlled by the hacker.
The white hacker managed to recover $117,000 of the $240,000 the user had stored in his account.