That's awful. I'm sorry to hear that happened to you. It must have been very frustrating watching helplessly as it happened.
I have thankfully not had anything like that happen to me (except having a fraudulent charge or two on a credit card which is pretty easily fixed).
I do, however, completely agree about turning frustration into motivation. Currently I'm turning my frustration with a job I'm fed up with and have been for awhile into a relentless quest to start my own business ventures. Most will take at least a few years to really start generating income but as long as I see light at the end of the tunnel I'm just gonna keep on working towards self employment.
Steemit is a very small part of this plan and I'm not relying on it but I am here for the long term in hopes that someday this platform will explode in user numbers and the currency value will increase tremendously. It's more of a lotto ticket in comparison to my other plans. But sometimes those do pay off...
Thanks for sharing your experience.