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Highlights
- Pinsky was just a teenager when he used the SIM-swapping technique to steal cryptos
- He was involved with a bigger circle of hackers, which, according to a lawsuit, was led by him
- A break-in was reported in 2020 at Pinsky’s house in suburban New York
The crypto world is riddled with multiple controversies. On one hand, bigshots like Warren Buffett and Bill Gates have denounced cryptoassets over separate occasions, and on the other, high-stake hacks have resulted in losses.
One of the famous cryptocurrency hacks is the January 2018 heist, which involved nearly US$23.8 million theft from the digital vault of crypto entrepreneur Michael Terpin. The “mastermind” behind the hack was one Ellis Pinsky, also dubbed as ‘teenage crypto kingpin’. Let us know about the hacking attack in detail.
The hack by Ellis Pinsky
It is said that the hack was perpetrated by multiple hackers, working from Europe and the US, with Pinsky as the mastermind. The modus operandi reportedly involved the use of SIM-swapping technique, wherein the identity of the real holder of the SIM card is forged.
Michael Terpin’s handset -- a BlackBerry phone -- had the digital vault that stored cryptos. Terpin sued Ellis Pinsky and other accomplices in 2020 and reportedly sought US$71.7 million in damages. In a related suit, Terpin had secured a civil judgment in his favour in 2019 from a California state court.
A suit for damages, instituted by Terpin against service provider AT&T, was dismissed by a California state judge in 2020.
Who is Ellis Pinsky?
It was reported that Pinsky was only 15 years old when the hack occurred. His mother is a physician at NYU Langone, and Pinsky had interests in gaming. It was also reported that subsequent to the lawsuit by Terpin, some men broke into the home of Pinsky with a motive to extract information on stolen cryptos.
A suburban New Yorker, Pinsky is stated to have led the team of hackers that breached Terpin’s phone. This is why he is sometimes referred to as the teenage crypto kingpin and even ‘Baby Al Capone’.
A detailed story of the hack by Ellis Pinsky and the following events are recounted in an article, available on Apple’s news platform. The article also talks about Pinsky’s side of the story and how he allegedly spent the money. Meanwhile, in the crypto world, the biggest digital asset, Bitcoin is trading at almost half its value as compared to its price at the start of this year.
Also read: Cryptoqueen Ruja Ignatova on Most Wanted list: What it means for cryptos
Data provided by CoinMarketCap.com
Bottom line
Pinsky’s hacking episode is one of many such events that have rocked the world of digital currencies based on the blockchain tech. What made Pinsky stand out was his young age when he pulled off the multi-million-dollar heist.
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