California Superior court settled a cryptocurrency theft case in favor of the investor, Micheal Turpin, who was awarded $75.8 million in the settlement ordered by the court as reported by New York Reuters.
Michael Turpin had earlier filed a case against AT&T for negligence which led to the cryptocurrency theft worth 24 million in 2017. Later, after probing into the matter, a 21-year old suspect Nicholas Truglia was identified as the thief who is reportedly involved in six similar heists.
The amount that he stole from Turpin was the highest amongst them. Turpin then went ahead to file a case against Truglia in the Calfornia Court.
Reportedly, the suspect was caught by the personal messages he sent to his friends after pulling the heist. His friend Chris Davis also confirmed in his affidavit that Truglia lived a luxurious life with private jets, sports cars, and Rolex watches. In one of his text, he said.
“I’m a millionaire. I’m not kidding. I have 100 Bitcoin.”
The court ordered the guilty to pay $75.8 million in compensation and punitive damage. The 21-year old resident orchestrated the crime targeting high-level executives in the Bay Area. The technique used for stealing the cryptocurrencies was ‘SIM-Swapping.’
SIM-Swapping is a method that exploits the use of automated messages or phone calls to handle customer authentication by trading platforms. The numbers of the victims are hijacked by another person who gets access to all the incoming information on the number. Moreover, Truglia was involved in six other SIM-Swapping crimes and was arrested for the same in November 2018 for a theft amounting to $1 million.
Also Read: $1.2 Billion Lost in Cryptocurrency Related Scams and Fraud in Q1 2019: Report
These crimes involving cyber theft were not necessarily an attack on cryptocurrencies. It was made possible was corruption and unethical practices, which could have affected a bank account equally. Moreover, due to the unified public ledger of cryptocurrencies, it is possible to track the movement of funds all around the world.
Do you think that cryptocurrencies are safer and more trustworthy medium of exchange than traditional currencies? Please share your views with us.
Nivesh from Engineering Background is a full-time Crypto Journalist at Coingape. He is an atheist who believes in love and cultural diversity. He believes that Cryptocurrency is a necessity to deter corruption. He holds small amounts of cryptocurrencies. Faith and fear are two sides of the same coin. Follow him on Twitter at @nivishoes or mail him at nivesh(at)coingape.com
