AT&T Coinbase Gemini Sim Swap Apple's Robert Ross

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Robert Ross

Rob Ross was a victim of a SIM card swap attack that led to the theft of one million dollars. These attacks involve hackers tricking mobile carrier employees into rerouting a victim's phone number to a hacker's SIM card. The hacker targeted Ross, stealing funds from his Coinbase and Gemini accounts, exploiting the temporary access to circumvent two-factor authentication security checks. Ross emphasized the need for awareness and resources for victims, leading to the creation of StopSimCrime.org. The perpetrator, Nicholas Truglia, faced extradition and 21 felony charges related to six victims, including identity theft and fraud. Ross pushed for improved prevention and support from cell phone providers.

This exchange or platform is based in United States, or the incident targeted people primarily in United States.

About Multiple

"In October 2018, Ross was a victim of SIM crime, a process in which hackers gain access to your cell phone by tricking a mobile carrier employee into rerouting a subscriber’s phone number to a hacker’s SIM card."

"According to US prosecutors, Truglia targeted San Francisco resident Robert Ross on October 26, successfully pulling off a SIM-swap and stealing a combined $1 million from both a Coinbase and Gemini account."

"SIM-swapping is an attack in which criminals call customer service representatives and ask to port a number to a new device. While often only temporary -- as victims will quickly notice their reception die and pursue the matter -- this window can give attackers the chance to circumvent two-factor authentication (2FA) security checks and access high-value accounts."

“I was sitting at my desk at my home, and I saw a withdrawal request notification,” said Ross. “I looked up from my phone to my computer, and I noticed that I was literally being logged out of my Gmail in real time.” Then, Ross looked back at his phone and saw that he lost service.

Ortiz stole more than $1 million from Ross after taking control of his cell phone and gaining access to his accounts on crypto exchanges. Ross says he never even heard of “SIM swapping” until he lost most of his bitcoin savings as a victim of the scheme.

"Truglia allegedly hacked the phones of Silicon Valley executives from his cushy West 42nd Street high-rise apartment."

"Ross was apparently Truglia’s one success, though officials allege that he went after a half dozen other Silicon Valley cryptocoin players, including Saswata Basu, CEO of the block-chain storage service 0Chain; Myles Danielsen, vice president of Hall Capital Partners; and Gabrielle Katsnelson, the co-founder of the startup SMBX."

"Erin West, the deputy district attorney for Santa Clara County in California, told reporters that 21-year-old Nicholas Truglia, of Manhattan, has agreed to be extradited. Santa Clara officials plan to pick him up in December. According to court documents, he’s been charged with 21 felony counts against six victims, including identity theft, fraud, embezzlement, crimes that “involve a pattern of related felony conduct,” and attempted grand theft."

"Truglia is being held at the Manhattan Detention Complex pending extradition to Santa Clara, Calif., where he faces 21 felony counts related to a total of six victims, officials said.

The allegations stem from a one-week hacking spree that started Oct. 8 and include charges of grand theft, altering or damaging computer data with the intent to defraud and using personal information without authorization."

“It’s a new way of doing an old crime,” said deputy DA Erin West of Santa Clara Superior Court to The Post. “It’s a pervasive problem, and it involves millions of dollars.”

"Ross watched helplessly on Oct. 26 as his phone went dark and $500,000 in a Coinbase account and another $500,000 in a Gemini account vanished in seconds. It was his daughters’ college fund — his entire life savings, West said."

In January 2019, several victims — including tech entrepreneur Robert Ross — launched an initiative called Stop SIM Crime to raise awareness of this growing phenomenon."

Ross is now pressuring cell phone providers to offer better resources to help victims and to educate them about prevention."

In a March 2019 interview, Rob Ross, discusses how he fell victim to a sim card swap attack that resulted in the theft of a million dollars from him. He explains that sim card swap attacks are often carried out through social engineering, where hackers trick customer service representatives into performing the swap. The hackers had access to Ross's Gmail, Dropbox, and two-factor authentication app, giving them control over various accounts. Ross also discusses the lack of resources for victims of sim card swap crimes, which led him to create StopSimCrime.org, an organization aimed at raising awareness, providing support to victims, and advocating for change in the telecommunications industry to prevent such attacks. He emphasizes the need for carriers to implement technical and administrative solutions to address this growing issue and calls for incentives to deter customer service representatives from engaging in fraudulent activities.

This exchange or platform is based in United States, or the incident targeted people primarily in United States.

The background of the exchange platform, service, or individuals involved, as it would have been seen or understood at the time of the events.

Include:

• Known history of when and how the service was started.
• What problems does the company or service claim to solve?
• What marketing materials were used by the firm or business?
• Audits performed, and excerpts that may have been included.
• Business registration documents shown (fake or legitimate).
• How were people recruited to participate?
• Public warnings and announcements prior to the event.

Don't Include:

• Any wording which directly states or implies that the business is/was illegitimate, or that a vulnerability existed.
• Anything that wasn't reasonably knowable at the time of the event.

There could be more than one section here. If the same platform is involved with multiple incidents, then it can be linked to a main article page.

The Reality

This sections is included if a case involved deception or information that was unknown at the time. Examples include:

• When the service was actually started (if different than the "official story").
• Who actually ran a service and their own personal history.
• How the service was structured behind the scenes. (For example, there was no "trading bot".)
• Details of what audits reported and how vulnerabilities were missed during auditing.

What Happened

The specific events of the loss and how it came about. What actually happened to cause the loss and some of the events leading up to it.

Key Event Timeline - AT&T Coinbase Gemini Sim Swap Apple's Robert Ross

Date	Event	Description
October 26th, 2018	Sim Swapping	Robert Ross was SIM swapped.
March 13th, 2019	RSAC Interview	Robert Ross gives an interview to the cybercrime magazine.

Technical Details

This section includes specific detailed technical analysis of any security breaches which happened. What specific software vulnerabilities contributed to the problem and how were they exploited?

Total Amount Lost

The total amount lost has been estimated at $1,000,000 USD.

How much was lost and how was it calculated? If there are conflicting reports, which are accurate and where does the discrepancy lie?

Immediate Reactions

How did the various parties involved (firm, platform, management, and/or affected individual(s)) deal with the events? Were services shut down? Were announcements made? Were groups formed?

Ultimate Outcome

What was the end result? Was any investigation done? Were any individuals prosecuted? Was there a lawsuit? Was any tracing done?

Total Amount Recovered

The total amount recovered is unknown.

What funds were recovered? What funds were reimbursed for those affected users?

Ongoing Developments

What parts of this case are still remaining to be concluded?

Individual Prevention Policies

No specific policies for individual prevention have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as an individual, check our Prevention Policies for Individuals guide.

Platform Prevention Policies

Policies for platforms to take to prevent this situation have not yet been selected in this case.

For the full list of how to protect your funds as a financial service, check our Prevention Policies for Platforms guide.

Regulatory Prevention Policies

No specific regulatory policies have yet been identified in this case.

For the full list of regulatory policies that can prevent loss, check our Prevention Policies for Regulators guide.