SIM hijacking is becoming more and more common. However, for the first time around this technique was actually used in order to steal $ 5 million in Bitcoin.
The perpetuated is a college student from Boston. The student was arrested in California. He, however, is just part of the gang. The gang hacks the cell phone numbers in order to steal Bitcoins.
With the help of this technique, they force the phone operators to transfer the phone number to a particular sim. As a result, they had the physical sim in their hands. This made it easier for them to reset the password of the cryptocurrency investors as well. Once they reset the password, it was very easy for them to actually transfer the cryptocurrency holdings wherever they want.
Big players targeted in consensus 2018:
The gang specifically targeted the individuals who attended consensus 2018. Over $ 1.5 billion was stolen from a single blockchain entrepreneur. This clearly indicates that the total amount of money which might have been stolen will be much higher. Moreover, since the sim was cloned, it is very difficult to stop this kind of hijacking. This is one of the main reasons why they were able to steal such a significant amount of money.
The authorities, however, took the help of the communication giant AT&T. The AT&T allowed the authorities to follow the trail. Once the trail was followed, it became easier to catch the perpetrators as well. There are various cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance and Coinbase which were impacted as well. In total, the cryptocurrencies which were stolen wear millions of dollars as well. This is the reason why the amount of money which was involved in this cryptocurrency fraud is much higher as well.
With that being said, hackers, as well as the con artists, are actually becoming more and smarter when it comes to stealing cryptocurrencies. This is one of the main reasons why investors need to be more careful as well. Only when investors are more careful about investing in cryptocurrency and protecting their cryptocurrency Holdings as well, it will become much easier for them to hold on to them for a longer period of time. Moreover, the exchanges also need to ensure that the stricter the cryptocurrency transfer techniques are used as well. Only when each and every stakeholder in the chain strengthens the security which is provided to the cryptocurrency investors, then they can be protected. It remains to be seen whether any such attempt in the future is completely blocked or whether the same modus operandi can be used again without any kind of protection.
