The post US Court Reopens AT&T $24M SIM Swap Crypto Theft Case: Details appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has reopened a case against AT&T, an American multinational telecommunications company whose employees enabled a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) swap that led to the theft of cryptocurrencies worth $24 million in 2018. According to a filing published by the court panel, almost all charges brought against AT&T were rightfully dismissed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, except for the claim where the plaintiff presented a triable issue under Section 222 of the Federal Communications Act (FCA). Court Reopens Case Against AT&T In 2018, 15-year-old Ellis Pinsky teamed up with 21-year-old Nicholas Truglia to bribe an AT&T employee to transfer the information on crypto investor Michael Terpin’s SIM card to another blank card in their phone. The SIM swap enabled the duo to overcome the two-factor authentication protecting Terpin’s crypto wallets and steal $24 million worth of his crypto assets. After Terpin, the founder of international crypto incubator BitAngels, discovered the incident, he sued AT&T and used his investigative skills to track down Pinsky. The 15-year-old returned $2 million of the stolen stash. Terpin also dragged Truglia to court a year later, demanding $75.8 million in damages, and won. The court also sentenced Truglia to 18 months in prison. The crypto investor sued Pinsky after he turned 18 in 2020, demanding $71.4 million in damages. The plaintiff eventually reached a deal with Terpin to pay only $22 million and also agreed to testify in the case against AT&T. Damages Reduced to $45M In 2020, a California judge dismissed Terpin’s request for $216 million in damages from AT&T and 12 other claims because they had no legal standing. Judge Otis Wright approved just three out of the 16 claims brought by the crypto investor. Earlier this…

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Filed under: News - @ October 4, 2024 4:20 am