A currency investor named Michael Terpin has sued AT&T, as he lost over $24 million after hackers got ahold of his phone.
Over the course of seven months, Terpin’s phone was hacked and substantial amounts of money were released.
According to Terpin, the only way that hackers could possibly have accessed his phone would be through AT&T who provided access to his bank account. Not only is Terpin asking for a reimbursement of his funds, but he is also asking for $200 million to cover damages.
Terpin reportedly used a two-factor authentication system for his accounts and even consulted with experts to guarantee that he would not be hacked. His legal team’s complaint reads:
After the hackers took charge of Mr. Terpin’s telephone number, the hackers accessed Mr. Terpin’s telephone to divert texts and telephone calls to gain access to Mr. Terpin’s cryptocurrency accounts. The hackers also used the phone to hijack Mr. Terpin’s Skype account to impersonate him. By that means, the hackers convinced a client of Mr. Terpin to send them cryptocurrency and diverted a payment due to Mr. Terpin to themselves. AT&T finally cut off access by the hackers to Mr. Terpin’s telephone number on June 11, 2017, but only after the hackers had stolen substantial funds from Mr. Terpin. Moreover, because of the hack, Mr. Terpin expended a substantial amount of time investigating the hack and attempting to repair his computer accounts.
Throughout his complaint, Terpin stresses the amount of work that he had to put into the investigation of this case. He is probably attempting to justify the large amount of money which he is demanding to cover damages. However, he also warned people that AT&T is probably not being as safe as it claims. Ultimately, his complaint was a call to action for AT&T to update its security policy.
Featured Image via Wikimedia Commons
