There are reports coming out every week suggesting that millennials are the most likely to invest in crypto, but not all millennials have the money to do so. One millennial by the name of Nicholas Truglia was arrested in Manhattan for hacking into people’s mobile phones in order to steal digital cash. The court charged him with 21 counts of stealing cryptos, one of which was a whopping $1 million haul from a father of two in San Francisco.
Targeting High Net Worth Individuals
Truglia focused on hacking the mobile phones of high net worth individuals in a bit to score the biggest rewards. His con quickly paid off as he hit the crypto jackpot, stealing just over $1 million from a single heist. Truglia managed to swipe $500,000 from the victim’s Coinbase and Gemini accounts, which he then quickly converted into his crypto of choice and stored in his wallet. Other big-name victims include hedge-funder Myles Danielsen, SMBX co-founder Gabrielle Katsnelson, and 0chain Saswata Basu.
Crypto Thefts Are Becoming Common Place
Unfortunately, as cryptos become more accepted and understood, criminals are targeting individuals with crypto hacks more frequently. Over in Australia, a woman was arrested for stealing 100,000 XRP from an older gentleman. The only reason she was caught was due to the fact she failed to use a crypto mixer to hide the transaction’s origin and cover her tracks. In Turkey, a group of men were arrested for stealing $80,000 from several wallets after gaining access to email accounts.
Gamers Are Now Popular Targets
It isn’t just high net worth individuals who need to be cautious. Scammers have begun targeting gamers who play the popular game, Fortnite. The scammers offer players who are down on their luck access to aim bots, wall hacks, and free v-bucks – an in-game currency – in a bid to help win more games. Hidden in these downloads is a script that will search the user’s computer for any signs of crypto activity, instantly sending back anything that could be a private key or seed phrase.
Scammers and hackers are becoming more intelligent and creative with how they hit people. The best way to protect yourself is to simply not talk about how much crypto you have in your portfolio. This way hackers will not directly target you and they are very unlikely to just stumble onto your crypto information. As for Nicholas Truglia, he is currently in custody and waiting extradition to Santa-Clara for further trials, as his crimes appear to have spanned the US.
