The FBI, the US Secret Service’s e-crime group, and police in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, arrested a teenager who stole about US $ 37 million by swapping a SIM card. This is currently the largest cryptocurrency theft, affecting just one person.
Law enforcement officers began a joint investigation back in March 2020, after an unnamed US resident complained about the hacking of his cell phone. As it turned out, the victim was attacked with a SIM-card substitution: the phone number was stolen and activated on another device belonging to the attacker. Thus, the hacker was able to log into the victim’s accounts and pass the two-factor authentication check, having received information about the victim’s cryptocurrency wallet. According to the authorities, as a result, the cryptocurrency was withdrawn from this wallet in the amount of 46 million Canadian dollars (approximately 36.5 million US dollars).
The fact that he spent part of the stolen funds on the purchase of a specific username, which was considered rare in the gaming community, helped to get on the trail of the police criminal. This transaction allowed investigators to reach the owner of the account with this rare name.
As a result, the teenager was arrested for theft and possession of property obtained by criminal means. At the moment, the police have confiscated more than $ 5.5 million worth of cryptocurrency from him.
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