A joint investigation between the Hamilton Police, the Federal Bureau of Investigations and the United States Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force begun in March 2020. The investigation focused on the theft of cryptocurrency from a victim located in the United States.
The victim had been targeted by a SIM swap attack. This attack hijacks valuable accounts by manipulating cellular network employees to duplicate phone numbers so threat actors can intercept two-factor authorization requests.
During this SIM swap attack, approximately $46 million CAD worth of cryptocurrency was stolen from the victim. To date, this is the biggest cryptocurrency theft reported from one person.
The joint investigation disclosed that a portion of the stolen cryptocurrency was used to purchase an online username which was considered to be rare in the gaming community. This transaction led investigators to uncover the account holder of the rare username.
A Hamilton youth was arrested for:
- theft over $5,000.00; and,
- possession of property or proceeds of property obtained by crime
This matter is before the courts.
Hamilton Police made multiple cryptocurrency seizures valued today in excess of $7 million CAD.
If you have any information that could assist Police with the investigation, please contact Detective Constable Kenneth Kirkpatrick by calling 905-546-4793.
To provide information anonymously call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477 or submit your anonymous tips online at http://www.crimestoppershamilton.com
This article was originally sourced by Hamilton Police.
