Today, Chicago Sun-Times revealed details
about a cryptocurrency hacking scheme a group of Call of Duty players
allegedly carried out.
According to
the outlet, who cited unsealed court documents, the gamers were allegedly able
to access cryptocurrency wallets in order to steal funds after gaining access to a cell
phone.
The Chicago Sun-Times noted that those
involved in the cryptocurrency theft ring “don’t appear to have been charged with
any crimes,” but are suspected of stealing more than $3.3 million dollar’s
worth of cryptocurrency.
GAMING GONE WRONG
One man from
Bloomington who was allegedly involved in the scheme told FBI officials how he
met other purported conspirators while playing Call of Duty, the
globally-popular simulated warfare game in which participants have the ability
to chat with one another.
The man said he
was forced to participate after some of those involved “swatted” him.
Swatting is the name given to an increasingly popular
tactic where someone calls law enforcement to report a fake emergency at a
targeted person’s home. The desired end is to have a SWAT team (Special Weapons
and Tactics) barge into the victim’s house.
An FBI
affidavit says that after intimidating the man to participating, he allegedly
helped the group gain control of more than 100 different phones, so the thieves
could steal cryptocurrency.
However, the
unidentified Bloomington man told the Chicago
Sun-Times in an interview how he was a victim of the scheme, and
maintained “I have never once profited from anyone by crypto-hacking, ever.
A Decentralized Platform Tells Authorities About The Scheme
The Chicago
Sun-Times wrote how the FBI started to get wind of the scheme after it was
informed about cryptocurrency theft from a company called Augur.
Augur describes
themselves as a “Decentralized oracle and peer to peer protocol for prediction
markets.
An FBI affidavit said company employees told the agency
how their digital currency, the Reputation Token (REP), was being stolen.
According to the company,
REP is used on the Augur betting platform and helps keep the overall
infrastructure “growing and running smoothly.”
The overall
idea of Augur is to allow people to make ‘prediction markers’ where they can
bet virtual currency on different outcomes for situations, like a sporting
event.
Bitcoinist reported in the summer how Augur has come under
controversy since launch due to associations with assassination and terror attack
markets, which some commenters see as illegal.
Authorities
think the gamer group was able to steal about $805,000 dollars worth of
Reputation Token by shuffling stolen tokens through various cryptocurrency
networks.
The FBI also
has transcripts of online chats between those allegedly involved in the scheme
discussing the extortion a victim after the thieves were able to steal the
victims Augur investment.
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