Bitcoin Robbery Victim Files Case Against Parents of Fraudsters

With great popularity comes great risks. This holds true for the fast-developing cryptocurrency industry that is transforming into a haven for hackers who steal the crypto assets of investors through well-planned tactics. One such case of crypto theft was reported in 2018 where a crypto holder named Andrew Schober was mugged for nearly $1 Million worth of digital currency by two young men from the United Kingdom. 

In the latest development of this case, Andrew Schober has finally identified the cheaters as two young men from the UK. He has filed a case against the parents of the two culprits to get back the lost assets which their sons swindled him of. Schober stated that he spent $10,000 to avail the services of experts who helped him in tracing the thieves. After months of constant efforts, the experts managed to track down the two fraudsters. It was disclosed that the culprits were minors at the time of the theft. They are currently pursuing computer science courses from UK universities.  

The team of investigators disclosed that the fraudsters used a digital clipboard-stealing malicious software called Cryptocurrency Clipboard Hijackers to dwindle Andrew’s digital tokens. During the forensic investigation of Andrew’s computer system, it was found that he downloaded the malware by clicking on a link related to a crypto wallet app named Ethereum Atom on Reddit. The cryptocurrency clipboard hijacker malware monitors the Windows clipboard to trace crypto addresses of holders who copy-paste them for quick use. Once the address is detected by the attackers, they swap it with a false address that manages to trick the user. Unless the investor rechecks the address entered, the tokens are sent to the address controlled by the fraudsters. 

The same thing happened with Andrew when he copied the address instead of typing it while moving 16.4 bitcoins from one account to another. The malicious software replaced his crypto address with the address put in by the fraudsters quickly. In his lawsuit, Andrew has laid down his investigation process related to the recovery of his funds. The investigators tracked the assets via crypto exchanges. They also found a message by one of the culprits on GitHub, seeking help to access the private key related to the public key of the malicious address used by them. 

He revealed that he wrote a letter to the parents of both the teens seeking their help to get back his money. However,  on getting no response from them, he reached out to the court. The families of the accused are emphasizing that the time for Andrew to advocate his legal right to claim a cause of action against them has lapsed and so his case holds no value. The cryptocurrency exchanges fail to account for their responsibility towards the lost assets making it difficult for users to claim back their funds.