A 24-year-old U.K. man faces extradition to the U.S. following a sim-swap rip-off that occurred in mid-2021 which focused a Boston cryptocurrency dealer.
Robert Barr, 24, is dealing with extradition to the U.S. following a crypto fraud that occurred in May and July 2017. U.S. prosecutors say that Barr and Londoner Corey De Rose robbed Reggie Middleton, a Boston dealer, earlier than transferring the cash to one other crypto pockets.
What is a “sim swap” rip-off?
A “sim-swap” rip-off is when a scammer transfers a person’s cellphone quantity to one other system with out their authorization. This permits the scammer to start receiving communications related to that cellphone quantity, together with entry to e mail addresses, passwords, and naturally, crypto wallets.
In May 2017, Barr and American Anthony Frances Faulks hacked a feminine’s cellphone, permitting them to make off with just below half one million kilos, redirecting the funds to totally different crypto wallets. According to U.S. prosecutors, Barr faces eight expenses in the state of Georgia, together with wire fraud and id theft, following investigations by a grand jury in 2020.
Barr’s case to this point
Barr was arrested by Scottish police in February 2021, after the FBI tipped them off to Barr’s conduct. After showing in courtroom, Barr was remanded in custody prior to extradition proceedings which formally started final April.
He was ultimately launched on bail to his mom in Kilbirnie in October 2021.
However, final week, Barr’s request to dismiss the ongoing case and arrest warrant was denied. He is predicted to face an extradition listening to later this yr.
De Rose, 22, who additionally has Asperger’s, gained his extradition case again in January of this yr. He was additionally alleged to have hacked right into a crypto account in 2017.
Barr went “too far,” says former hacker
Once a part of a bunch of teenage hackers, together with Barr, a former buddy mentioned that Barr would typically go too far.
“We were young, around 15-16ish, and, for me, it was fun…You could take the accounts, often inactive and unused, so no loss to anyone, and sell them to other people who wanted that username. I don’t think Robert fully understood the severity of his actions and saw it as just stuff happening on his computer.”
Barr’s mother and stepdad claimed ignorance, declining to speak to the press.
Last yr, telecom big AT&T was sued following a buyer’s lack of $560,000 price of crypto due to sim-swap fraud, whereas one other man misplaced $7,300 from his Coinbase account after a sim-swap assault on his T-Mobile account.
Cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase don’t reimburse funds misplaced by way of SIM-swap fraud, since funds don’t get stolen due to a safety breach on their aspect, however reasonably by way of a stolen id.
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