In April 2025, the famous NFT collector Jake Gallen was deceived in a fake interview via Zoom. Instead of an investment conversation, he lost $ 200,000 in assets and took over social networks. The reason was one action: permission for remote access.
The interview on the YouTube channel Tactical Investing looked safe – many years of activity, familiar names among the guests. During the conversation, the host (with the camera turned off) asked Gallen to demonstrate the functionality of the Emblem Vault service. Gallen agreed, not suspecting anything. He received a banal Zoom request – he clicked “yes”, thinking that this was just permission to demonstrate the screen. But in fact, he gave hackers complete control over the computer.
The very next morning, sales of valuable tokens for pennies began, and later, social media hijacking. Gallen contacted the Open Security Alliance (SEAL), where they discovered that the attackers were operating not from North Korea, but from the United States, imitating the well-known techniques of North Korean hackers. Their group was codenamed ELUSIVE COMET.
Before the incident, Jake Gallen was the public face of the historical NFT niche. He did not hide behind pseudonyms, but on the contrary – showed himself, shared assets, hosted podcasts and broadcasts. He considered transparency an advantage: it brought trust, fame, invitations to Sotheby’s and collaborations with stars.
His passion for collecting began long before crypt – with an antique shop in Las Vegas, which he ran with his father. MoonCats – ancient pixel cats on the blockchain – became his pride and later his loss.
This attack had nothing to do with multi-level complexity or hacking exploits. Everything was solved with one click. Zoom allows the host to request full remote control — a request that is often confused with the banal “show screen.” Gallen fell victim to this very confusion. He lost not only money, but also trust. But instead of keeping quiet, he is openly sharing his story as a warning.
