Your Crypto Wallet Just Got You on a Phishing Hit List—Here's What Leaked

If you've ever purchased a Ledger hardware wallet, your personal information may now be in the hands of criminals. And they're already using it.

On January 5, 2026, Ledger disclosed that Global-e—a third party payment processor handling transactions for the hardware wallet company—suffered a data breach. The attackers gained unauthorized access to Global-e's cloud systems and extracted customer order data from multiple brands, including Ledger.

The breach exposed exactly the information phishing scammers need: your name, email address, phone number, and details about what you ordered. Attackers now know you own crypto hardware—and they're coming for your inbox.

What Was Exposed

According to Ledger and Global-e's disclosure, the breach exposed:

• Names and contact information (email addresses, phone numbers)
• Order details including products purchased and prices paid
• Shipping addresses for physical deliveries

Ledger emphasized that payment card details, bank account information, and account passwords were not compromised. Most importantly, the breach did not expose users' 24 word recovery phrases or any blockchain related secrets.

However, the exposed data is exactly what scammers need to craft convincing, personalized phishing attacks.

Phishing Attacks Are Already Underway

Within days of the breach disclosure, security researchers spotted phishing campaigns targeting Ledger users. The scammers are using the leaked order data to make their attacks devastatingly personal.

One campaign involves fake emails about a "Ledger and Trezor merger," urging users to "migrate" their assets to a new platform. Another poses as "Katie at E-Global" with a link to learn about "security updates" for Ledger devices.

These emails work because the attackers know:

• Your real name (not just "Dear Customer")
• That you actually own a Ledger device
• Potentially which model you purchased
• Your email and possibly physical address

This makes the phishing emails far more convincing than generic crypto scams. When an email addresses you by name and references a product you actually own, it's much harder to dismiss as spam.

Physical Mail Scams Are Also Possible

Since shipping addresses were exposed, Ledger has warned customers to be suspicious of unexpected physical mail.

In previous breaches, scammers sent fake "replacement" Ledger devices to victims' homes. These counterfeit devices were preloaded with malware designed to steal recovery phrases when users set them up.

Ledger explicitly warns: "Ledger will never send physical items or ask you to scan QR codes, visit websites, or share your 24 word recovery phrase."

This Isn't Ledger's First Breach

If this sounds familiar, it's because Ledger has been here before. In 2020, a breach exposed information for 270,000 customers through eCommerce partner Shopify. A rogue Shopify employee was later found responsible for leaking customer details.

That breach triggered years of phishing campaigns. Victims received fake firmware update emails, SIM swap attacks targeting their phone numbers, and even death threats demanding crypto payments.

The lesson is clear: when your data leaks from a crypto company, you become a high value target. Attackers know you have digital assets worth stealing, and they have your contact details to reach you.

How to Protect Yourself

If you've purchased from Ledger, assume your information was compromised and take these precautions:

• Never share your 24 word recovery phrase—not with Ledger, not with support, not with anyone. Any request for this phrase is a scam, full stop.
• Verify URLs carefully. Official Ledger pages use ledger.com, not sites.google.com or lookalike domains.
• Ignore emails about firmware updates or security alerts. Check the official Ledger website directly if you're concerned about updates.
• Be suspicious of physical mail. Don't plug in any device that arrives unexpectedly, even if it looks like a Ledger.
• Use email privacy tools to block tracking pixels that confirm your email address is active. Extensions like Gblock prevent marketers and scammers from knowing when you open their messages.

The Bigger Privacy Lesson

The Ledger breach illustrates a fundamental privacy problem: your data isn't just held by the companies you buy from. It's shared with payment processors, shipping partners, marketing platforms, and countless other third parties you never agreed to trust.

Global-e processes payments for multiple brands, not just Ledger. When their systems were breached, customer data from numerous companies was exposed simultaneously.

Every time you make a purchase online, your information flows through a chain of vendors, each one a potential point of failure. You can't control their security practices, but you can control how you respond to the phishing attacks that follow breaches.

Stay skeptical of every email that knows too much about you. The more personalized it seems, the more likely it's using your leaked data against you.