Ontario teen arrested after allegedly stealing $46 million in cryptocurrency from one person in the U.S.
CTV
An Ontario teen has been arrested after allegedly stealing $46 million from one person in the United States in a massive cryptocurrency scam.
Hamilton police announced the arrest on Wednesday after a joint investigation with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the United States Secret Electronic Crimes Task Force in March 2020.
According to police, the victim had been targeted by a SIM swap attack, a method of manipulating cellular network employees so scammers can intercept two-factor authorization requests.
"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,” police said in a statement. "This transaction led investigators to uncover the account holder of the rare username."
According to police, a Hamilton youth was arrested for theft of $5,000 and possession of property of proceeds of property obtained by crime.
