FTX Hacker Arrested? Bloomberg: US Department of Justice Accuses Trio of Using SIM Card Swap Attack to Steal $400 Million from FTX

FTX Attacker Apprehended?
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According to Bloomberg’s report, the US Department of Justice filed a lawsuit with the federal court last week, accusing three individuals of conducting SIM card swap attacks to steal over 400 million US dollars from a company. It is speculated that this company is likely the defunct FTX exchange.

According to the lawsuit filed with the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, from March 2021 to April 2023, the three defendants executed SIM card swap attacks against multiple victims. Although the specific victims were not disclosed in the indictment, Bloomberg today quoted two sources familiar with the matter to report that FTX was one of the victims.

According to Bloomberg’s report, the attackers gained access to an AT&T account of an FTX employee using false identities, subsequently unlocked FTX’s online account, and allegedly stole 400 million US dollars worth of cryptocurrencies.

The prosecutors have charged these three individuals with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and identity theft. The report did not mention where the stolen funds are or the subsequent handling methods.

After FTX filed for bankruptcy, a large amount of assets in FTX and FTX US hot wallet addresses were transferred to an address starting with “0x59abf,” with a total transferred asset value of approximately 370 million US dollars. Initially, it was believed that these transfers were made for the purpose of consolidating funds in preparation for liquidation in the future. However, the team later came forward to state that these transfers were not made by the internal team, revealing that the exchange was hacked.

At the time, founder SBF and former Head of Institutional Sales Zane Tackett speculated that this attack was an inside job by the team.

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