A Canadian teenager has been charged by authorities in connection to a $50 million SIM-swapping scam targeting cryptocurrency holders.
According to a report by Infosecurity Magainze, eighteen-year-old hacker Samy Bensaci of Montreal has been accused by Canadian authorities for his role in a crime ring that stole millions from American and Canadian cryptocurrency investors.
The scam involved a SIM-swapping technique to illegally gain access to the cell phones of crypto holders before hacking into their accounts.
Lieutenant Hugo Fournier, a spokesperson for the Sûreté du Québec Candian Police Force, said the elaborate fraud was responsible for the theft of “$50 million from our neighbors to the south and $300,000 in Canada.
Don Tapscott, head of the Blockchain Research Institute, and his son Alex were among the alleged victims of the hack. Tapscott later confirmed that he had been affected by the scheme, telling The Star,
We can confirm that last year a hacker attempted steal crypto assets from our company and its employees. That attempt was unsuccessful. We cooperated with the police [and] have been impressed with their determination to bring those responsible to justice.
Bensaci was arrested in Victoria, British Colombia in November and later released on a $200,000 bail.
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