Sean Coonce, engineering manager at cryptocurrency startup BitGo, has written a blog post explaining how he lost $100,000 in a SIM-swapping hack.
“This was the single most expensive lesson of my life and I want to share my experience + lessons learned with as many people as possible. My goal is to increase awareness about these types of attacks and to motivate you to increase the security of your online identity,” he wrote.
The hack, which drained his entire account, started when Coonce realized his phone didn’t have cellular service. He then received a notification that someone was trying to log into his Google Account. He tried entering his password, and decided to deal with the situation the following day. But by the morning, the hacker had gained access to his email and Coinbase accounts, as well as deleted all traces of the password recovery emails.
“Coinbase customer support [confirmed] that a user was able to gain access to my account the night prior and has swept all funds to an on-chain address outside of Coinbase,” Coonce stated.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is preparing to finalize new international standards for regulating cryptocurrency firms.
In addition to verifying and keeping records of their own users’ identities, exchanges and other service providers would have to send customer information to each other when transferring funds, just as banks are required to do.
“During its presidency of the FATF, the United States has worked with other countries to clarify how all countries should regulate and supervise activities and providers in the digital currency space,” Mandelker said, adding that “we anticipate that in June the FATF will adopt a final version of its Interpretative Note, along with updated guidance to further assist countries and industry with their obligations.”
A new report has revealed that British investors lost £27 million ($34.38 million) to crypto scams over the last financial year.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) revealed that between April 1, 2018 and April 1, 2019 the average loss per victim was £14,600 ($18,500). In addition, reports of crypto and forex investment scams more than tripled last year to over 1,800.
“These figures are startling and provide a stark warning that people need to be wary of fake investments on online trading platforms. It’s vital that people carry out the necessary checks to ensure that an investment they’re considering is legitimate,” said Director of Action Fraud, Pauline Smith.
In other crypto scam news, a Dutch man has been arrested for fraud and money laundering after he conned over 100 people into investing a total of $26 million in fake bitcoin mining rigs.
According to The Next Web, Berry van M., 33, was director of two companies which claimed to sell bitcoin mining machines, promising investors a return of around 0.3 Bitcoin (currently $2,300) per month. The investors never saw any returns, or gained access to the computers they had funded.
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