AT&T is being sued $224 million over a crypto investor’s $24 million loss
$24 million
Crypto crime turned a $24 million robbery into a $224 lawsuit against AT&T, which an investor blames for enabling identity theft.
Published | Photo by Reuters/Andrew Kelly
US investor Michael Terpin says the fault lies with AT&T for allowing hackers to access his phone number—used to rob his assets—without any ID or password.
The 69-page complaint, filed in Los Angeles, compared it to “a hotel giving a thief with a fake ID a room key and a key to the room safe to steal jewelry in the safe from the rightful owner.”
Somebody needed to sue AT&T for fraud & gross negligence in letting criminals SIM swap. I just did: https://t.co/02JoNOOZrV #bitcoin
— Michael Terpin (@michaelterpin) August 15, 2018
On top of the $24 million in losses, Terpin is seeking an extra $200 million in punitive damages. AT&T is disputing the case.
Crypto theft is having a record-breaking year. Blockchain security firm CipherTrace estimates that cryptocurrency exchanges lost $760 million in 2018 so far—nearly triple 2017’s losses.
Crypto is a threat or will be to the stability of the financial system
