Cryptocurrency investor calls on US FCC to stop SIM fraud

Cryptocurrency investor Michael Terpin, a victim of mobile phone fraud, wrote an open letter to the chairman of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

In his letter
Ajit Pai Terpin demanded that the regulator take decisive action against fraud with mobile phone numbers.

Terpin proposes to force all US mobile operators to hide PIN codes and customer passwords from their employees and oblige them to inform customers that they can subscribe to higher security tariff plans. These plans should include the ability for the client to be tested for fraud before the information from the SIM card is transferred to the new phone.

Terpin himself claims that he lost cryptocurrencies in the amount of $ 24 million as a result of two frauds with his mobile phone number that occurred within seven months.

Fraud involves the theft of a victim’s data from a telecommunications service provider in order to transfer the victim’s phone number to a SIM card held by an attacker. Such SIM cards can be bought on eBay and connected to a one-time prepaid mobile phone.

After transferring the phone number, the hacker can reset passwords for various services, such as cryptocurrency wallets and email accounts. The sergeant in the office of Santa Clara County Sheriff Samy Tarazi said:

“We are talking about young people aged 19 to 22 years who can steal millions of dollars in cryptocurrencies. Now we are dealing with those who buy a SIM card for 99 cents on eBay and connect it to a cheap phone and steal millions of dollars. ”

According to Terpin, more than 50 victims of such fraud turned to him, all suffered significant financial losses. Turpin hopes to meet with Ajit Pai during the Mobile World Congress Americas in Los Angeles, where they will both be present as speakers.

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Recently, another cryptocurrency investor, like Terpin, has filed
lawsuit against telecommunications company AT&T. According to him, the company’s employees gained access to his account, which led to the theft of more than $ 1.8 million, including in cryptocurrencies.