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The post From Crypto King to Victim: Michael Terpin’s Ongoing Legal Fight with AT&T appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News
Michael Terpin, the cryptocurrency investor, has resumed his case against the telecommunication company AT&T in court for allegedly neglecting his data allegiance after losing $24 million worth of cryptocurrency to SIM swap hackers in 2018.
The Rise of SIM Swap Scams
The case which began in 2020 has the potential to catapult phone companies’ responsibility in SIM swap offences to a new level.
Ellis Pinsky, a teenager at the time, contacted an employee of the telecommunications company AT&T in the summer of 2018 and paid him corrupts for gaining access to Terpin’s SIM card. This let him to get around two-factor authentication security and regain access to Terpin’s crypto wallet, from which he made off with $24 million worth of crypto.
For that and other cybercrimes, Pinsky was quickly dubbed the “Baby Al Capone” even though he was only a teenager.
Legal Implications for Telecom Companies
The case changed when the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals brought back Terpin’s theory under Section 222 of the Federal Communications Act thus protecting user data. Other lawsuits by Terpin included fraud, coupled with punitive damages of $216 million were dismissed. Now Terpin wants $24 million from AT&T plus another $14 million in interest and attorney’s fees.
Terpin has earlier filed a $75.8 million case against Pinsky’s associate, Nicholas Truglia, which Terpin won in 2019. Also, Pinsky repaid $2 million of the embezzled money and entered as an informant in Terpin’s case against AT&T.
Terpin’s Ongoing Fight for Justice
This could have potentially wider implications arising from a SIM swap scam, an issue that has recently grown prevalent in the cryptocurrency niche. Such loss and continuous damage to Terpin reflect the danger and complexities that continue to surround the investment in cryptocurrency and ownership of their digital properties.
English (US) ·