Customer Sues AT&T After Losing Cryptocurrency Worth $23.8 million
Published on August 16, 2018
- Cryptocurrency investor Michael Terpin is suing AT&T after a sim hijacking cost him millions of dollars’ worth of cryptocurrency.
- A sim swap fraud was carried out using his AT&T sim, and cryptocurrency tokens were stolen from his account.
- AT&T has refuted the claims and will be contesting the lawsuit in court.
A recent SIM swap fraud that cost cryptocurrency investor Michael Terpin $23.8 million in cryptocurrency tokens may land AT&T in trouble. The investor is taking the matter to court for the amount he lost along as well as punitive charges amounting to $200 million. The funds were transferred by an international crime gang. AT&T has been sued for negligence and fraud as the carrier was unable to provide enough security to prevent the sim fraud.
The complaint against the carrier states “what AT&T did was like a hotel giving a thief with a fake ID a room key and a key to the room safe to steal jewelry in the safe from the rightful owner.” Sim hijacking is one of the most effective cybercrimes as it allows complete access of a sim card owner’s data without requiring any form of approval or authorization. Hijacking a phone number allows hackers access to all two-factor authentication codes and other phone-based security methods.
AT&T and other carriers have been dealing with SIM card frauds in the US more frequently than ever with the rise in popularity of cryptocurrencies. The fraud against Terpin took place on January 7th, and similar incidents have been reported all over the US. Attackers mostly target users who have large amounts of cryptocurrency stored in digital wallets. Hacking and duplicating SIM cards allows attackers access to private wallets via two-factor authentication.
The carrier has been accused of failing to protects its users in the past as well. Director for Corporate Communications Jim Greer declined to elaborate on the allegations laid out by Terpin. He simply stated that the company would be disputing the allegations in court in the near future.
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