The Turkish authorities have recently recorded a victory for itself. Based on a recent report, the authorities have arrested a gang of digital currency hacker. The arrested hackers were charged with hacking digital currency wallet via sim swapping.
Sim Swapping Crypto Hijackers Busted
Based on the report, the hacker gang is made up of eleven individuals. These hackers perform their operation making use of the popular wallet hacking method— sim swapping.
It was reported that these hackers, hack into their victim’s wallet by obtaining their phone numbers from a phone company through deceit. Currently, only ten out of the eleven hackers has been arrested and so far they have been released on bail, however, they still remain under a stringent judicial leash.
A report made it known that at least fourteen victims have filed a report at an Istanbul police station, upon discovering that their virtual currency wallets had been hacked by fraudsters.
Sim Swapping
The report also describes how hackers secure their victim’s mobile phone. The report stated that:
“The hackers, using fake IDs, told telephone operators that the victims’ mobile phones were stolen. They further requested another sim card and cancelled the sim cards of the real owners.”
Once the new sim card arrives, the hackers then request for a password change and have the confirmation information sent to them. The report also made it known that these hackers have stolen about $80,000 worth of virtual currency. It was also reported that the hackers have taken various steps to protect themselves from getting caught. This includes spreading the assets across various accounts to cover their tracks.
The Istanbul crime unit which carried out the raid on the hacker’s apartment reported that it confiscated eighteen cell phones, fake identity cards, two fake driver’s licenses, among others.
Sim Swapping has been around for quite a while, but the method recently gained popularity due to its use by crypto hackers. It has so far become a major cause of concern and has led to some investors having to purchase a premium sim card with use specifically for their crypto wallet.