US Cryptocurrency Investor Files $71.4 Million Lawsuit Against A Teenager Over Alleged SIM Swap

An 18-year old boy is accused of stealing $24 million in cryptocurrencies. An advisor in blockchain companies claims that the teenager along with his crew hacked his phone to conduct the theft.

A Cybercrime Raid

Last Thursday in New York, Michael Terpin, founder and chief executive officer of Transform Group (a San Juan, Puerto Rico-based blockchain company) sued now 18-years old Ellis Pinsky for a cyber heist. Per the accusations, Pinsky and his team of hackers targetted him in 2018 (when Pinsky was just 15), by hacking his mobile phone account through the SIM swap.

In 2018 Terpin also sued AT&T (an American multinational telecommunication company) for $224 million, claiming that their lack of security in the wireless network facilitated the cybercrime, and therefore allowed Pinsky and his pack of hackers to attack his phone and steal the money.

In a reported statement, Terpin says that the teenager and his fellow hacker crew are “computer geniuses with sociopathic traits who heartlessly ruin their innocent victims’ lives and gleefully boast of their multi-million-dollar heists.”

Terpin’s accusation steps on a federal racketeering law, seeking more than $71 million from the teenager.

In his charge, Terpin points out that Pinsky had the help of his fellow hacker Nicholas Truglia, 21, who was criminally charged in the crypto theft in New York in December, whilst facing unrelated charges in California. Later on, in 2019, Terpin won a $75.8 million default judgment against Trulia in California state court.

Crypto Crimes Continue

Recently it was announced that Belgium’s economic inspectorate has reported €2.94 million losses in cryptocurrency frauds. The information is based on figures released by Economy Minister Nathalie Muylle. It highlights that 2019 brought serious troubles to some cryptocurrency investors in the country.

It is also considered that the actual losses of such frauds are probably way above the announced numbers. The reason is that a lot of those who report them tend to keep silent on the true amounts involved.