Criminals are never short of imagination when it comes to inventing new ways to steal. This spring, your cryptocurrencies are being targeted, with a new kind of aggressiveness emerging in city from London.
Several police files indicate that the British newspaper was able to consult it exclusively WatchmanNow, cybercriminals are coming for strikes. Many of the victims had their cell phones robbed, before they found out that through this, the thieves managed to steal large sums of money from their cryptocurrency wallet.
Half physical, half virtual attack
A first victim, for example, was attacked holding her smartphone in her hand to order an Uber. The attackers took his phone, and ended up returning it, but only after stealing the equivalent of £5,000 (€5,900) worth of Ethereum, via Coinbase (an online digital currency wallet and cryptocurrency exchange).
Another victim was approached by a group of people who offered to sell him cocaine. He agreed to follow them down a small alley, and that’s when he found himself pressed against a wall, forced to unlock his smartphone via facial recognition. After gaining access, the cybercriminals transferred £6,000 (€7,000) of virtual currency Ripple from his account to theirs.
Almost £30,000 (€35,000) has already been stolen from some cryptocurrency investors through this new type of double physical and computer assault.
irreversibility
“If you are robbed and forced to make a bank transfer, the bank can track where the money went and there are different ways to reverse the transaction. But if the money is transferred from one cryptocurrency wallet to another, there is no going back.”David Gerrard, author of the book Attack on 50 Ft Blockchain. It is the irreversibility of crime that motivates thieves.
It should be noted that regarding the nature of cryptocurrencies, transactions are recorded and cannot be modified on blockchainIt is theoretically possible to trace the stolen money. The police generally do this work for very large sums (several millions), but it is much more complicated to prepare these means for a large number of petty thefts.
Moreover, the risks Crypto theft (“aggression” in French) is exacerbated by the fact that virtual money is managed differently than physical money. “You wouldn’t walk down the street counting a wad of 50 pound notes. The same logic should be for crypto assets.”Phil Aris, Cryptocurrency Team Manager for the Cybercrime Program at National Police Chiefs Council (United kingdom).