A Grammy-nominated musician recently lost over $400,000 in a cybersecurity scam. G. Love downloaded what he thought was a legitimate app from the App Store after his laptop crashed. The reviews looked good. He entered his credentials, and within moments, his cryptocurrency investments disappeared.

It Can Happen to Anyone

This isn’t just about cryptocurrency. Cybersecurity threats affect traditional brokerage accounts, 401(k) plans, and any financial account you manage online. The tactics scammers use are getting more sophisticated, and the consequences can be devastating.

Three Ways to Protect Your Accounts

In this video, I walk through three practical steps you can take to protect your financial accounts from scams like this one.

The first is verifying every website and app before you enter sensitive information. The second is setting up two-factor authentication on all your financial accounts. The third is choosing reputable custodians and doing your due diligence before investing in alternative assets.

Why This Matters

Reputable custodians exist for a reason. They provide layers of security and protection that you might not find elsewhere. Whether you’re managing a 401(k), a brokerage account, or exploring alternative investments, understanding who holds your money and how they protect it matters.

G. Love has said publicly that this experience taught him a hard lesson. Hopefully, it’s one the rest of us can learn from without losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in the process.

Video Transcript

A Grammy-nominated musician recently lost over $400,000 in a cybersecurity scam.

G. Love, or real name Garrett Dutton, has been an investor in cryptocurrency since 2017. When his laptop crashed, he bought a new one, went online to the App Store, and downloaded the app he thought was real. The reviews looked good. He put in his username, password, and seed phrase, and bam—over $400,000 of investments disappeared.

I have three recommendations for this, especially as you think about your overall financial picture, whether it’s your own 401(k), your brokerage account, or if you are investing in or interested in some of these alternative asset classes like cryptocurrency or private investments.

First and foremost, don’t enter your password, your seed phrase, any kind of wallet information, whether you’re using a traditional brokerage account or some of these alternative investments, unless you are 100% confident and you have verified the website or the apps that you are going into.

Second, when you’re creating accounts or switching accounts from one custodian to another, set up your username and password and then create a two-factor authentication mechanism. I would recommend using something like an authenticator app in order to verify authenticity and protect yourself and your important financial accounts.

And third, consider utilizing well-recognized, reputable custodians. Ensure that when you’re investing in these vehicles, you’ve done your due diligence and you’re confident and comfortable with the security of these accounts. That’s part of the reason that reputable custodians and vendors in things like 401(k) accounts or brokerage accounts can be valuable, because they can provide the security and protection around managing your account that you might not find in other places.

I hope this lesson, one that G. Love himself says he’s learned a lot from, is one that you can take in mind as you think about your overall financial life.