Winning trades? – The hacker Ellis Pinsky will have to pay several million dollars in damages to his victim, and embarrasses the telephone operator AT&T. About four years later, the teenage hacker checks out.
Hack cryptos: Baby Al Capone takes out his checkbook
According to a document filed with the court for the Southern District of New York, hacker Ellis Pinsky agreed to payer 22 million dollars damages to his victim, crypto investor and entrepreneur Michael Terpin.
The hack itself took place in 2018. Ellis Pinsky only had 15 ans. His age and his misdeeds will earn him the nickname of Baby Al Caponean appellation assigned by the New York Post.
The teenager had managed to want 24 million dollars in cryptocurrencies to Michael Terpin, in particular by carrying out a SIM card exchange or swim sapping in English. This scam targeted telephone service provider AT&T.
This process aims to illegally retrieve phone number of a victim, without its prey noticing. It thus allows the fraudster to access the messages and calls of his target.
Thanks to swim swapping, a hacker can then recover the code necessary to pass two-factor authentication, which should however more effectively protect access to an account. Ellis Pinsky, meanwhile, managed to access online bank accounts, cryptocurrency exchanges, and sensitive websites.
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The telephone giant AT&T in bad shape?
The young hacker, who has now admitted to justice his involvement in the exchange of SIM cards and in the theft of cryptocurrencies, will also have to provide a detailed report of the process of swim swapping which he used.
Tim Tooheywho is the lawyer for Michael Terpin, hopes that this detailed technical report will put the operator AT&T facing its responsibilities. His client had previously tried to sue the telephone service provider, but a California judge had dismissed Michael Terpin’s claim for punitive damages against AT&T.
At the time, the court said the request could be made again after the preliminary investigation. The case is far from over. It should continue in May 2023in federal court in Los Angeles.
Ellis Pinsky proved that crypto hacks are ageless, and unfortunately they are commonplace in the cryptosphere, with still tempting loot for future apprentice pirates.
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