A teenager from Ontario has been arrested on suspicion of having stolen $46million of cryptocurrency from a single person.
The youth was arrested yesterday following a joint investigation between Hamilton Police, the FBI and the United States Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force.
The taskforce have been looking into the case for more than a year, having started investigating in March 2020.
In a statement, Hamilton Police said: ‘The joint investigation revealed that some of the stolen cryptocurrency was used to purchase an online username that was considered to be rare in the gaming community.
A teenager from Ontario, who has not been identified, has been arrested on suspicion of having stolen $46million of cryptocurrency – it is believed to be the single largest cryptocurrency theft involving a single person in Canada’s history
‘This transaction led investigators to uncover the account holder of the rare username.’
And yesterday, officers seized as much as $7million-worth of cryptocurrency in connection with the theft.
They added that the crypto theft is believed to be the single biggest cryptocurrency scam involving one person in Canadian history.
However, officers have withheld the alleged hacker’s age.
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Hamilton Police also said that the victim had lost millions in cryptocurrency after being targeted by a SIM swap attack.
Put simply, a SIM swap attack sees a target’s account being taken over through fraud.
The person carrying out the attack initially gathers as much personal data available to them online to build a picture of their target.
With the information to hand, the hacker then tricks the target’s mobile phone provider into switching their number over to a SIM car controlled by the attacker.
The youth was arrested following a joint investigation between Hamilton Police (pictured is their Police Station), the FBI and the United States Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force
With this process complete, the target loses access to their mobile phone network and their personal number, while the slot hacker then begins to receive the victim’s texts and calls.
This in turn allows them to bypass the target’s two-factor authentication security systems, allowing them to then clear out bank accounts, max out credit cards or cause other types of financial and digital harm.
In light of the attack, police have warned people to remain vigilant in securing access to their finances.
Det.
Const. Kenneth Kirkpatrick told CTV News Toronto that two-factor authentication is key in protecting your investments and funds.
He added that using different passwords for different websites and applications was also crucial.