The year-end holiday was supposed to be a joyful time, but it turned into a nightmare. My family and I were relaxing at a five-star hotel when suddenly my wallet was emptied right after we left. The strangest part was that I never clicked on any phishing links nor signed any suspicious transactions.

It took me hours to figure out what happened. The culprit turned out to be a combination of the hotel WiFi, a phone call, and a series of basic mistakes.

Like most crypto enthusiasts, I always bring my laptop when I go out. I thought I could handle some work during the vacation breaks, but my wife insisted I relax. I really should have listened to her.

Connecting to the hotel WiFi was easy—no password, just pass the verification page. I worked as usual, following the rules: I didn’t create a new wallet, didn’t click on any links randomly, and didn’t access any suspicious DeFi apps. I just browsed Twitter, checked my accounts, and visited Discord and Telegram.

The turning point was a phone call. A friend from the crypto community called me, and we talked about market trends, Bitcoin movements… The call seemed perfectly normal. But I didn’t realize that danger was quietly approaching.

Behind this seemingly safe activity, there were multiple risk points: man-in-the-middle attacks on public WiFi, insecure verification mechanisms, the possibility of social engineering phishing during the call… Any breach in these steps could cause my crypto assets to vanish instantly.

Looking back now, the mistakes I made are quite obvious. But at the time, I didn’t think that such an incident could happen in a "normal" vacation scenario. This lesson was bloodily learned. For all holders, security awareness should always come first—no matter where you are, you can never relax your guard, even in the most relaxed moments.