US Court Reopens AT&T $24M SIM Swap Crypto Theft Case: Details

The United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit has reopened a case against AT&T, an American multinational telecommunications company whose employees enabled a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) swap that led to the theft of cryptocurrencies worth $24 million in 2018.

According to a filing published by the court panel, almost all charges brought against AT&T were rightfully dismissed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, except for the claim where the plaintiff presented a triable issue under Section 222 of the Federal Communications Act (FCA).

Court Reopens Case Against AT&T

In 2018, 15-year-old Ellis Pinsky teamed up with 21-year-old Nicholas Truglia to bribe an AT&T employee to transfer the information on crypto investor Michael Terpin’s SIM card to another blank card in their phone. The SIM swap enabled the duo to overcome the two-factor authentication protecting Terpin’s crypto wallets and steal $24 million worth of his crypto assets.

After Terpin, the founder of international crypto incubator BitAngels, discovered the incident, he sued AT&T and used his investigative skills to track down Pinsky. The 15-year-old returned $2 million of the stolen stash. Terpin also dragged Truglia to court a year later, demanding $75.8 million in damages, and won. The court also sentenced Truglia to 18 months in prison.

The crypto investor sued Pinsky after he turned 18 in 2020, demanding $71.4 million in damages. The plaintiff eventually reached a deal with Terpin to pay only $22 million and also agreed to testify in the case against AT&T.

Damages Reduced to $45M

In 2020, a California judge dismissed Terpin’s request for $216 million in damages from AT&T and 12 other claims because they had no legal standing. Judge Otis Wright approved just three out of the 16 claims brought by the crypto investor.

Earlier this year, Terpin filed an appeal against the California judge’s decision. The Appeals Court panel has confirmed the judge’s dismissal of some claims while acknowledging Wright’s summary judgment on charges brought after the hackers gained control of Terpin’s phone in part and dismissing Wright in part.

Since the panel did not reverse Wright’s dismissal of Terpin’s demand for $216 million in damages, the crypto investor is seeking $45 million from AT&T.

Meanwhile, another crypto investor sued AT&T in 2020 for assisting cybercriminals in a SIM swap attack that robbed him of $1.8 million worth of cryptocurrencies.