Kraken ETH SIM Swap Jeremiah Nichol

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Jeremiah Nichol

Jeremiah Nichol was a victim of SIM swapping hacking. In August 2017, he lost 41 ether in a cryptocurrency exchange due to a hacking incident that lasted less than 30 minutes. Despite having two-factor authentication (2FA) issues, he learned his lesson. In November 2018, he experienced another attack, where hackers compromised his email and exchange accounts, causing him significant losses. Joel Ortiz, a college student with tech skills, was convicted in the Santa Clara County, California, becoming the first person convicted for SIM swapping.

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

About Kraken

Jeremiah Nichol was a victim of SIM swapping hacking. He was hacked in August 2017, losing 41 ether in a crypto exchange. Despite implementing two-factor authentication, he fell victim to another attack in November 2018, where hackers compromised his email accounts and exchange accounts, causing him to lose thousands. Joel Ortiz, a former college student with a background in technology and a penchant for flaunting wealth, was convicted for his involvement in SIM swapping crimes. He accepted a plea deal in Santa Clara County, California, becoming the first person to be convicted for SIM swapping. Jeremiah Nichol concluded with empathy and well-wishes for Ortiz's rehabilitation and personal growth.

Jeremiah Nichol was a victim of SIM swapping hacking.

In August 2017, he fell victim to a SIM swap attack where hackers gained access to his personal email accounts and a cryptocurrency exchange, stealing 41 ether from him. The entire hacking process and loss of funds took less than 30 minutes.

Jeremiah explains that he was a victim of a hacking incident. His email account, which lacked two-factor authentication (2FA), was compromised. The hackers gained access to one of his cryptocurrency exchange accounts and stole 41.1 Ether. Despite being aware of the importance of 2FA, he had trouble setting it up quickly, as he was not very technically savvy.

Jeremiah reported the hacking incident to the FBI. He mentioned that the hackers had a static IP address from Grandview, Missouri. However, he had not received any response from law enforcement, which led him to believe that his case might not be a high priority for them.

Despite losing cryptocurrency in the first attack, Nichol did not realize the extent of the breach until February 2018 when he discovered that his senior-level Bitcoin Talk account had been sold to a company called Open Platform. This company was involved in promoting an illegal Initial Coin Offering (ICO).

On November 28, 2018, while on a walk with his wife, Nichol received notifications of password changes to his email account, which triggered a sense of panic and dread, reminiscent of his earlier hacking experience.

As he rushed back home, he noticed that multiple accounts were compromised, including his email and cryptocurrency exchange accounts. Attackers had control over his phone, enabling them to change passwords, facilitate withdrawals, and disable security features.

When contacting AT&T for assistance, they informed him that his phone had been activated elsewhere with a photo ID, which he had not done.

In desperation, Nichol attempted to communicate with the hacker through his last remaining account, asking why they were targeting him. The hacker responded with a demand for cryptocurrency.

"Ortiz was a University of Massachusetts college student at the time of his arrest. Prior to attending UMass, he attended Boston Public schools where he graduated as the valedictorian.

The Boston Globe reported that Ortiz developed a passion for technology which was later nurtured at the Boston Pilot School Another Course to College. There, Ortiz was a robotics team leader. He was planning on majoring in information technology at UMass."

"Ortiz was reportedly a fan of flaunting his money. He often wore designer clothing and rented mansions in Los Angeles. He was arrested while trying to fly out of the Los Angeles airport to go to an EDM festival in Belgium. New York Post reported he was dressed head-to-toe in Gucci at the time."

Asked by deputy district attorney.

"Joel Ortiz accepted the plea deal last week, Erin West, the Deputy District Attorney in Santa Clara County, California, told Motherboard during a meeting on Thursday. The authorities believe Ortiz is the first person to be convicted of a crime for SIM swapping, an increasingly popular and damaging hack. The prosecutors and agents who have been investigating these hacks celebrated the conviction, and said they hope that this will serve as an example for the other alleged criminals who have already been arrested, as well as the ones who have yet to be caught."

Xzavyer Narvaez, who’s accused of stealing around $1 million in Bitcoin; Nicholas Truglia, who’s also accused of stealing millions in Bitcoin; and Joseph Harris, one of the most infamous SIM swappers who allegedly stole more than $14 million in cryptocurrency.

“Each arrest that we made sent shockwaves through that community,” West said. “That they weren’t safe in their basement, they weren't safe in their room in their mom’s house, that they were being tracked down and arrested—one by one.”

West added that “in looking at Joel’s sentence—10 years—it shows that our community will not tolerate this type of crime. And we will continue to find everyone who’s responsible.”

"Almost all these investigations have stemmed from the Regional Enforcement Allied Computer Team or REACT, a task force of multiple local California police departments. Tarazi, an agent at REACT, said that during 2018, they received hundreds of reports of SIM swapping attacks from victims. Those reports, according to him, have now slowed down."

"Jeremiah Nichol wrote a letter addressing Joel Ortiz and anyone else involved in the case. Nichol expressed his anguish and frustration, as well as his efforts to report the crimes to authorities and seek justice. He acknowledged the apprehension of Joel Ortiz and expressed hope that Ortiz could use his talents for productive purposes in the future. Nichol concluded with empathy and well-wishes for Ortiz's rehabilitation and personal growth."

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

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• 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 - Kraken ETH SIM Swap Jeremiah Nichol

Date	Event	Description
August 17th, 2017	Sim Swap	Jeremiah Nichol is sim swapped.
September 22nd, 2017 6:54:00 AM MDT	YouTube Video	Jeremiah Nichol outlines his hacking experience.
April 3rd, 2019 3:43:00 PM MDT	Letter Published	Jeremiah Nichol publishes his letter to Joel Ortiz.

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 $12,000 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

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Total Amount Recovered

The total amount recovered is unknown.

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

Ongoing Developments

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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.