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Man suing T-Mobile after losing $20K in cryptocurrency
- A man in Washington had over $20,000 in cryptocurrency stolen from him.
- The hacker thieves allegedly performed a port-out scam to gain access to the funds.
- If true, T-Mobile could be an unwitting accomplice in a Class B felony.
With the popularization of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, it was only a matter of time before thieves figured out how to raid our crypto-wallets. A man in Washington named Carlos Tapang learned this the hard way; he is now suing T-Mobile for allegedly giving thieves the opportunity to rob him of over $20,000 in a combination of OmiseGo tokens and BitConnect coins.
The thieves’ heist was actually pretty simple. They called T-Mobile, the carrier Mr. Tapang uses for his smartphone, and asked to port Tapang’s number to a different carrier. A T-Mobile rep performed the port, and the thieves used what was now (on paper, anyway) Mr. Tapang’s cell phone to allegedly gain access to his crypto-wallets. Once inside, they converted the cryptocurrency to Bitcoin and cashed out to the tune of approximately $20,350.
If Tapang’s accusations are true, T-Mobile could be an unwitting accomplice in Class B felony theft.
This is not the first time T-Mobile has been in hot water over porting out cell phone numbers to the wrong people. In fact, the nation’s third-largest carrier posted a website to help consumers who have been negatively affected by port-out scams.
Mr. Tapang’s complaint in Washington state demands a jury trial to assess damages for T-Mobile’s alleged violation of the Federal Communications Act, breach of contract, negligence, and breaking Washington’s consumer protection act.
As of now, T-Mobile’s legal team has made no public statement on the accusations.