U.S . crypto investor law firm Silver Miller has filed arbitration
claims against telecoms giants AT&T and T-Mobile for “SIM-swap”-
related thefts, according to a press release published Nov. 8
SIM-swapping – also known as a ‘port-out scam’ – involves the
theft of a cell phone number in order to hijack online financial and
social media accounts, enabled by the fact that many firms use
automated messages or phone calls to handle customer authentication.
According to one of the (partially redacted) Silver Miller Statement
of Claim documents – filed against AT&T on behalf of crypto holders
who allegedly suffered thefts via sim-swapping – the Dallas-based
telecoms “behemoth” had operating revenues of over $160 billion and
assets of over $444 billion as of 2017.
The claim alleges that “as a result of AT&T’s failures,” Silver
Miller’s client was robbed of crypto asset holdings worth over
$621,000 in a SIM swap, even after AT&T had assured him it had
heightened security on his account following an earlier attempted hack.
As Silver Miller contends, AT&T is well-aware of the “pervasive
harm” posed by SIM-swaps, having issued “public advisories” in the
past warning that the threat is “industry-wide” and assuring the
public of its safeguards against the practice.
AT&T is accused of acting “as a co-conspirator to the theft or
through abject negligence” by transferring the account holder’s cell
phone number to the attacker, and “exhibiting bad faith through its
conscious awareness of and deliberate indifference to the risk to
Claimant’s Personal Information.”
As per Silver Miller, AT&T’s failures further included “improperly
hiring, training, and supervising its employees,” and “failing to
invest in adequate security protections.”
According to the press release, other cases filed by the firm against T-
Mobile pertain to victims who lost $400,000 and $250,000
respectively, in similar SIM-swap incidents.
This summer, Cointelegraph interviewed Michael Terpin, an American
blockchain and long-time crypto investor, who has sued AT&T for
negligence that allegedly resulted in the theft of over $24 million in
crypto holdings.
Terpin, who co-founded BitAngels in 2013 and, more recently,
blockchain PR firm Transform Group, emphasized that many “smaller”
crypto tokens cannot be kept in cold storage, and that – particularly
if staked – they must be kept in a native wallet. They are thus more
vulnerable to negligence, or even alleged complicity by the gatekeepers
of user identity data. He advised investors to use a “Google voice”
number, as:
“[Y]ou have to have something that does not have a retail
store where a $10-an-hour employee can be bribed to give up
your information and your digital life.”
claims against telecoms giants AT&T and T-Mobile for “SIM-swap”-
related thefts, according to a press release published Nov. 8
SIM-swapping – also known as a ‘port-out scam’ – involves the
theft of a cell phone number in order to hijack online financial and
social media accounts, enabled by the fact that many firms use
automated messages or phone calls to handle customer authentication.
According to one of the (partially redacted) Silver Miller Statement
of Claim documents – filed against AT&T on behalf of crypto holders
who allegedly suffered thefts via sim-swapping – the Dallas-based
telecoms “behemoth” had operating revenues of over $160 billion and
assets of over $444 billion as of 2017.
The claim alleges that “as a result of AT&T’s failures,” Silver
Miller’s client was robbed of crypto asset holdings worth over
$621,000 in a SIM swap, even after AT&T had assured him it had
heightened security on his account following an earlier attempted hack.
As Silver Miller contends, AT&T is well-aware of the “pervasive
harm” posed by SIM-swaps, having issued “public advisories” in the
past warning that the threat is “industry-wide” and assuring the
public of its safeguards against the practice.
AT&T is accused of acting “as a co-conspirator to the theft or
through abject negligence” by transferring the account holder’s cell
phone number to the attacker, and “exhibiting bad faith through its
conscious awareness of and deliberate indifference to the risk to
Claimant’s Personal Information.”
As per Silver Miller, AT&T’s failures further included “improperly
hiring, training, and supervising its employees,” and “failing to
invest in adequate security protections.”
According to the press release, other cases filed by the firm against T-
Mobile pertain to victims who lost $400,000 and $250,000
respectively, in similar SIM-swap incidents.
This summer, Cointelegraph interviewed Michael Terpin, an American
blockchain and long-time crypto investor, who has sued AT&T for
negligence that allegedly resulted in the theft of over $24 million in
crypto holdings.
Terpin, who co-founded BitAngels in 2013 and, more recently,
blockchain PR firm Transform Group, emphasized that many “smaller”
crypto tokens cannot be kept in cold storage, and that – particularly
if staked – they must be kept in a native wallet. They are thus more
vulnerable to negligence, or even alleged complicity by the gatekeepers
of user identity data. He advised investors to use a “Google voice”
number, as:
“[Y]ou have to have something that does not have a retail
store where a $10-an-hour employee can be bribed to give up
your information and your digital life.”
0 Comments