Another Bitcoin investor sues T-Mobile over SIM swap attack

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Mobile operator T-Mobile is being sued over allegations that it failed to guard against a SIM card swap scam that cost a customer $ 55,000 in lost bitcoins.

Richard Harris, the customer and complainant, alleges T-Mobile’s misconduct, including its failure to adequately protect customer information, hire appropriate support staff and its violation of federal and state laws which resulted in its loss of 1.63 bitcoin.

Harris is seeking a jury trial, according to a court document filed last week in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

This is not the first time that the leading US mobile operator has faced litigation for alleged breach of its duty of care over customer data and loss of bitcoin. Earlier this year, T-Mobile was sued for a SIM card swap attack that resulted in the loss of more than $ 450,000 in bitcoin.

A SIM swap is a scam involving the purchase of a new prepaid SIM card. Bad actor contacts a company representative, in this case someone from T-Mobile, convinces the representative that he is the victim and asks the representative to transfer the victim’s old number to a new prepaid SIM card .

From there, the bad actor can gain access to bank accounts and crypto exchange wallets and receive a passcode sent as a text message to the prepaid SIM card.

“There have been many cases of mismanagement of customer account information at T-Mobile,” Harris’s complaint says.

Specifically, Harris argues that T-Mobile violated the Federal Communications Act, which states that a mobile operator must protect the proprietary confidential information of [its] clients and clients’ proprietary network information.

Harris seeks restitution for actual, statutory, treble and punitive damages as well as attorney’s fees and pre-judgment interest.

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