Techie buys fake Ledger Nano S+ hardware crypto wallet and almost falls for phishing — a convincing clone would have caught newbies unaware

Brazilian cybersecurity professional Joje Mendes nearly fell victim to a sophisticated hardware-and-software phishing attack involving a fake Ledger Nano S+ cryptocurrency wallet purchased from a Chinese marketplace. Despite the device being priced similarly to a legitimate one, Mendes discovered it was a counterfeit upon arrival, thanks to Ledger's software verification. Upon dissecting the device, Mendes found it contained an ESP32-S3 SoC and was designed to harvest data through a fake Ledger app, leading unsuspecting users to a malicious website for downloading harmful apps. Mendes reported the incident to Ledger and plans to investigate further, emphasizing the importance of purchasing security devices directly from manufacturers or authorized sellers.