The authorities say that criminals know that victims work with cryptocurrencies, so they are calling on citizens to deal with these issues more confidentially to avoid becoming a target for criminals.
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Reports published by local media in the UK warn that criminals are seeking to take over the phones of cryptocurrency users to gain control of their digital assets.
Attackers steal phones to gain access to victims’ encryption
This was revealed by a recent media report guardianAnd Suggesting that many attackers will forcibly take the phones of crypto users, the complaints seem to indicate that the attackers are aware that the victims are working with cryptocurrencies, because the next thing would be emptying accounts on exchanges or in the same machines.
According to the media, the police report they were able to access tells the story of a victim who was approached by the attackers during their order Uber. The victim says that the criminals returned the phone to him, but when checking his account Currency They found out that they had stolen some ETH Worth £5,000.
Another victim recounted a similar case in which her phone and bank cards were forcibly removed. He later found out that there was £10,000 worth of crypto money in his account inside of it Crypto.com. Those affected suspect that the attackers followed him, because while staying in a bar he had access to his account from his cell phone, so he had the idea that they had at one point seen his private key.
Phones as a target for attackers
Although the modus operandi looks more violent now, the truth is that the phones of cryptocurrency users have traditionally been one of the main targets of criminals looking to obtain cryptocurrency for victims.
Another most frequently used method is to clone/impersonate the SIM card of the victims, in which they can enable the cell phone number in another device and thus control the phone number to overcome the SMS authentication mechanisms. This would allow attackers to gain access to the accounts of affected exchanges and/or cryptographic services through verification messages.
Since phones are often also linked to victims’ email accounts, they also make use of messages sent by services to request password changes and/or validation of operations.
UK authorities on alert
In the face of the growing number of reported cases, the director of the cryptocurrency team for the cybercrime program at National Police Chiefs CouncilPhil Aris confirmed that the officers will receive further training to be on the lookout for crypto-related crimes.
Ariss’ recommendation is for people to avoid accessing their crypto wallets and/or exchange accounts in public:
“We are sure that no one will walk down the street with a stack of £50 notes while they are counting. The same should apply to people who own crypto.”
On the other hand, the call is also to remember the basic rules to avoid becoming victims, among which are not to reveal yourself as a user of cryptocurrency in social networks or public places, to be discreet about your financial activities and, of course, to avoid talking about these topics with unknown people.
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source: cryptopotatoAnd Watchman
Angel Di Matteo version / Daily Bitcoin
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