I May Have Lost $30,000 Because I Uninstalled An App
I feel sick.
My camera wasnt working on my phone when trying to scan a QR code on my Google Authenticator App. I thought there was a problem with the app so without thinking I uninstalled it from my phone, not realising when I reinstalled it that all the 2FA's disappeared. Now I can't log into most of my exchanges to obtain access to my money. I did have some back up keys so all is not lost, just about half of it in can't get to..
After pulling my hair out, crawling into a ball followed by slowly rocking in the corner I have submitted several support tickets to exchanges requesting that they turn off 2FA so I can log back into my accounts. There are numerous online articles suggesting this - clearly I'm not the only one!
If you don't want to be stupid like me (or if you ever happen to lose your phone with the app installed and find yourself in the same situation) then here's what I recommended you do immediately - Download AUTHY app and back up your Google Authenticator App - follow these directions - https://authy.com/blog/how-the-authy-two-factor-backups-work/
Please share this with a friend who deals in cryptocurrency.
Here are some exchanges I recommend:
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Sorry to hear this, and sending positive vibes that you manage to regain access. You should be able to but the biggest concern is the delay in support responses from most exchanges lately due to the demand. Good luck buddy! I hope you get all your coins back.
You pose some good points regarding 2FA issues and Authy being a better alternative, thanks for that! Going to be sure I make a backup!
Thanks for your comment and kind words of support! Fingers crossed I hear something back soon. I'll be doing my weekly review of my portfolio on Friday so I'm hoping I hear back by then.
I'll check back to see how you get on. Fingers AND toes crossed for you brother!
Thanks mate. I plan to give it a week then provide an update.
Thanks for sharing. I hope this all works out for you. I'm sure it will but it may take some time though. I hadn't thought about this aspect of security/backup. I'm resteeming to pass the word along.
Hey thanks for resteeming @mikeflow. It's taking some time but I think it will work out! Fingers crossed!
I too have 4 of my exchange accounts login tied to the app on my phone. I too don't have any backup for the keys. Thanks for the article. Very helpful.
I'm glad you found it helpful. If I can help one person then it's totally worth it. Thank you for commenting :)
I have up-voted and resteemed. Want it to reach as many as possible.
Check my introduction post and follow me back if our interests are common.
Thank you for resteeming as well. I really do appreciate you combing and joining the conversion.
Anytime buddy. Glad to help you and others who may benefit from this.
For future you can always see string of character while activating 2FA while you scan QR code. I always backed it up by writing this string so you can type that string in future later on and it will work since it just uses that string to generate the sequence which you see in you app. You could even print screen that qr code and print it if it's easier for you.
I don't really trust cloud services.... less there is online about my private things, better for me.
Hope you will get your accounts back, good luck man.
Thanks for the tip. I did write some down but not all of them. It's going to be a slow process to gain entry back into my account, but I'm positive it will all work out. Thank you for commenting and watching my video.
Dude this makes me feel sick! I can't believe it is that simple to lose your google authenticator keys! I'm gonna back mine up right now, holy crap. I hope you can get back into your accounts dude
Yeah it's crazy! I was taking to one of my friends who works at Google and he said it was the accounts responsibility to have a way for us to get back into the account. He explained that Google are only interested in building a secure app with no backup. Pen and paper will always win in this occasion. Thanks for asking to the conversation and commenting.
what i did is i saved all 2fa keys and saved them on 2 different drives and i also hand written them but now i am thinking to further back google app with the app you suggested.
Good idea! You can never have too many back ups!
2fa is so vital and also makes me take better care of my phone!!!
Haha yes maybe you're not wrong there!
good to know that you should not uninstall the App, your loss is my profit, and i think for many other people aswell ;)
Wow 30k... Reading this reminds me of how I sold most my btc at 100$ and how a friend mined a lot of dogecoin in the first few months only to lose the wallet file while reinstalling windows. I had a similar problem with discord some weeks ago but I managed to find my backup codes on an old dying drive. Learn from your mistakes it's better to lose 30k now and learn instead of losing 300k in the future.
That's a very good way to look at it. I'm have got two accounts back open, now there's 7 more to go! Thanks for commenting and stay tuned for an update next week.
What about writing the codes down on actual real world paper and put the paper somewhere safe?
That works as well and if you ask me is safer option than storing it in the cloud.