Ontario teen arrested after allegedly stealing $46 million in cryptocurrency from one person in the U.S.
An Ontario teenager has been arrested after allegedly stealing $46 million from one person in a massive cryptocurrency scam in the United States.
Hamilton police announced the arrest on Wednesday after a joint investigation with the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and the United States Secret Service Electronic Crimes Task Force that began in March 2020.
According to police, the victim had been targeted by a SIM swap attack, a method of manipulating cellular network carriers so scammers can intercept two-factor authentication requests.
"The joint investigation revealed that some of the stolen cryptocurrency was used to purchase an online username that was considered to be rare in the gaming community,” police said in a statement. "This transaction led investigators to uncover the account holder of the rare username."
A Hamilton youth was arrested in mid-2020 in connection with the incident for theft over $5,000 and possession of property or proceeds of property obtained by crime.
The age of the suspect has not been released by investigators.
“Because of the YCJA [Youth Criminal Justice Act] and just because it’s part of our investigation, we made the decision not to disclose the age of the accused,” Det. Const. Kenneth Kirkpatrick told CTV News Toronto.
Investigators said this is the largest cryptocurrency scam involving one person in Canadian history.
As the case makes its way through the courts, Hamilton police are asking the public to be vigilant in the security of their funds, whether they are held in crypto or centralized currency.
"If you have 15 accounts all with the same password, you're definitely not secure,” Kirkpatrick said. “So having different passwords for each different account, that’s very important."
Kirkpatrick went on to say that multi-factor authentication is key to protecting your personal information and money.
"Often, all these accounts have the ability to add a second factor, or even third-factor authentication…In today’s day and age, you need to kind of go one step further," he said.
CTV News Toronto contacted the FBI and United States Secret Electronic Crimes Task Force for more information but both organizations declined to comment.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment which has been banned at Queen’s Park.
Mountain guide dies after falling into a crevasse in Banff National Park
A man who fell into a crevasse while leading a backcountry ski group deep in the Canadian Rockies has died.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
ByteDance prefers TikTok shutdown in U.S. if legal options fail, Reuters sources say
TikTok owner ByteDance would prefer to shut down its loss-making app rather than sell it if the Chinese company exhausts all legal options to fight legislation to ban the platform from app stores in the U.S., four sources said.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Here's why Harvey Weinstein's New York rape conviction was tossed and what happens next
Here's what you need to know about why movie mogul Harvey Weinstein's rape conviction was thrown out and what happens next.
Improve balance and build core strength with this exercise
When it comes to cardiovascular fitness, you may tend to focus on activities that move you forward, such as walking, running and cycling.
Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.