A young man from Hamilton has been charged with the theft of $ 46 million in cryptocurrency after investigators discovered that some of that money went to the purchase of a gaming username.
Local police worked with the FBI and the United States Secret Service to investigate millions in lost currency stolen through what is known as a SIM swap attack, Det.-Const said. Kenneth Kirkpatrick of the Hamilton Police Service's Cybercrime Unit.
The three agencies began working together in March 2020 after an American reported the loss.
On Wednesday, investigators seized $ 7 million in cryptocurrency.
Kirkpatrick did not say the exact age or gender of the young man, or the username the young people bought. He also did not say whether the young man was acting alone, saying the case is currently in Hamilton court.
But he said investigators solved the case after the name was bought on the gaming network.
Police said it is the largest single cryptocurrency theft of a person ever reported.
"The amount, of course, is very surprising," Kirkpatrick said. "That's a lot of money, and it's a lot of money in anyone's opinion."
What is a SIM swap attack?
A SIM swap attack occurs when someone manipulates cellular network employees to duplicate phone numbers, so that person can use the number to intercept two-step authorization requests.
In other words, if someone receives a code on their phone to retrieve a password, the thief can intercept that code to gain access to the account, says Guy-Vincent Jourdan, a professor at the University of Ottawa School of Engineering and Informatics. .
Kirkpatrick said this is especially powerful given that many people use the same password for multiple sites.
Jourdan, who is not involved in this case, said that cryptocurrency systems have many weaknesses that can be exploited for fraud and theft.
Fewer safeguards for cryptocurrencies
"There is no regulation," he said. "There is no endorsement. There is no guarantee of anything," Jourdan said.
"If you use the normal banking system, then the banks are regulated. You can say, 'I didn't want to do that transaction.' You can contact that bank, get the money back. There is centralization. There is control over it. There is none of that. in cryptocurrencies.
"There is absolutely no protection to give you the ability to say 'Oops'".
Kirkpatrick said that cyber and cryptocurrency crimes are becoming more common. His unit started in 2018 and educates other Hamilton police officers and the public.
He recommends to follow the RCMP and Hamilton Police for tips on self-protection.
