The British are losing thousands of pounds in "cryptocurrencies" and are paying attention to SIM trading

The British lose thousands of pounds in "cryptocurrencies" and watch out for SIM swaps - 0 State pensionUK police are investigating a wave of 'crypto theft' in London, where victims have lost thousands of pounds in cryptocurrencies.

Criminals are targeting people's cryptocurrency investments managed on smartphones by luring them to owners or applying physical force to gain access to accounts. Once the phone gets into the hands of thieves, they secretly transfer cryptocurrencies, such as ether (quotation ETH) or XRP, from the victim's account. After that, however, the phones are returned to the victims.

David Gerard, the author of the book Attack on the 50 Foot Blockchain, told The Guardian:

“If I am robbed and they force me to make a wire transfer, the bank can track where the money went and there are all kinds of returns. The transaction can be reversed. With cryptocurrencies, if I transfer them to my cryptocurrency wallet, I have your coins and you can't get them back. "

Stealing crypto through SIM swapping

Also today, Robert Barr, 24, an alleged cryptocurrency hacker accused of stealing over $ 8,6 million worth of cryptocurrencies could be extradited from the UK to the US.

US authorities claim that the young Scot stole from Boston-based cryptocurrency dealer Reggie Middleton and then transferred the assets to another account. Barr allegedly had two accomplices in the SIM swap scheme.

Now, Barr, who was arrested by the Scottish police and then released on bail, faces up to 20 years in prison.

SIM trading is a popular method used to steal people's funds. Last November, Canadian police arrested a teenager who allegedly stole $ 36,5 million in cryptocurrency.

Prior to this, a UK teenager was convicted of setting up a phishing site and using Google Ads to scam users who shop online.

Phone scams proliferate

In April, the US Federal Trade Commission issued a warning about a new cryptocurrency payment scam scheme. Scammers call people by pretending to be someone from the government, law enforcement or a local utility company.

Whatever the criminals tell you, they end up asking you for money, and if you are busy, they direct you to withdraw the money from your account.

“Then they'll tell you to go to a store with a cryptocurrency ATM (and they'll stay on the phone the whole time). Once you are there, they will tell you to put your money into the ATM and buy cryptocurrencies. This is where QR code comes in - they send you a QR code with their embedded address. Once they buy the cryptocurrency, they make you scan the code so that the money is transferred to them. But then your money disappeared, ”the announcement further explained.