Parents of Teens Who Stole $1 Million In Bitcoin Sued By Alleged Victim (zdnet.com) 48
An anonymous reader quotes a report from ZDNet, written by Charlie Osborne: The parents of two teenagers allegedly responsible for stealing $1 million in Bitcoin are being sued. According to court documents obtained by Brian Krebs, Andrew Schober lost 16.4552 in Bitcoin (BTC) in 2018 after his computer was infected with malware, allegedly the creation of two teenagers in the United Kingdom. The complaint (.PDF), filed in Colorado, accuses Benedict Thompson and Oliver Read, who were minors at the time, of creating clipboard malware. The malicious software, designed to monitor cryptocurrency wallet addresses, was downloaded and unwittingly executed by Schober after he clicked on a link, posted to Reddit, to install the Electrum Atom cryptocurrency application.
During a transfer of Bitcoin from one account to another, the malware triggered a Man-in-The-Middle (MiTM) attack, apparently replacing the address with one controlled by the teenagers and thereby diverting the coins into their wallets. According to court documents, this amount represented 95% of the victim's net wealth at the time of the theft. At today's price, the stolen Bitcoin is worth approximately $777,000. "Mr. Schober was planning to use the proceeds from his eventual sale of the cryptocurrency to help finance a home and support his family," the complaint reads. The pair, tracked down during an investigation paid for by Schober, are now adults and are studying computer science at UK universities. The mothers and fathers of Thompson and Read are named in the complaint. Emails were sent to the parents prior to the complaint requesting that the teenagers return the stolen cryptocurrency to prevent legal action from being taken. However, the requests, sent in 2018 and 2019, were met with silence.
Schober's complaint claims that the parents "knew or reasonably should have known" what their children were up to, and that they also failed to take "reasonable steps" in preventing further harm. In response (.PDF), the defendants do not argue the charge, but rather have requested a motion to dismiss based on two- and three-year statutes of limitation. "Despite his knowledge of his injury and the general cause thereof, Plaintiff waited to file his lawsuit beyond the two and three years required of him by the applicable statutes of limitations," court documents say. "For this reason, Plaintiff's claims against Defendants should be dismissed." However, Schober's legal team has argued (.PDF) that the teenagers were not immediately traced, and roughly a year passed between separately identifying Read and Thompson. Schober's lawyers have requested that the motion to dismiss is denied.
During a transfer of Bitcoin from one account to another, the malware triggered a Man-in-The-Middle (MiTM) attack, apparently replacing the address with one controlled by the teenagers and thereby diverting the coins into their wallets. According to court documents, this amount represented 95% of the victim's net wealth at the time of the theft. At today's price, the stolen Bitcoin is worth approximately $777,000. "Mr. Schober was planning to use the proceeds from his eventual sale of the cryptocurrency to help finance a home and support his family," the complaint reads. The pair, tracked down during an investigation paid for by Schober, are now adults and are studying computer science at UK universities. The mothers and fathers of Thompson and Read are named in the complaint. Emails were sent to the parents prior to the complaint requesting that the teenagers return the stolen cryptocurrency to prevent legal action from being taken. However, the requests, sent in 2018 and 2019, were met with silence.
Schober's complaint claims that the parents "knew or reasonably should have known" what their children were up to, and that they also failed to take "reasonable steps" in preventing further harm. In response (.PDF), the defendants do not argue the charge, but rather have requested a motion to dismiss based on two- and three-year statutes of limitation. "Despite his knowledge of his injury and the general cause thereof, Plaintiff waited to file his lawsuit beyond the two and three years required of him by the applicable statutes of limitations," court documents say. "For this reason, Plaintiff's claims against Defendants should be dismissed." However, Schober's legal team has argued (.PDF) that the teenagers were not immediately traced, and roughly a year passed between separately identifying Read and Thompson. Schober's lawyers have requested that the motion to dismiss is denied.
First name is "Benedict" (Score:2)
With a name like that, he MUST be guilty.
Backwards headline? (Score:1)
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With a name like that, he MUST be guilty.
He lives in the UK. To the British, Mr. Arnold was one of the good guys.
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Re:First name is "Benedict" (Score:5, Interesting)
before he turned traitor.
Traitor? That is an odd word to use. By definition, the Continental Army were the traitors, seeking to overthrow the government.
The correct term would be "defector". General Arnold betrayed the insurgents, and defected the loyalist side, the opposite of treason.
treason /triz()n/ noun
the crime of betraying one's country, especially by attempting to kill or overthrow the sovereign or government.
Traitorous and Treasonous are different things (Score:5, Insightful)
before he turned traitor.
Traitor? That is an odd word to use. By definition, the Continental Army were the traitors, seeking to overthrow the government. The correct term would be "defector". General Arnold betrayed the insurgents, and defected the loyalist side, the opposite of treason.
treason /triz()n/ noun
the crime of betraying one's country, especially by attempting to kill or overthrow the sovereign or government.
Traitorous and Treasonous are different things. Treason implies acting against a lawful government. Traitorous implies acting against a group you have sworn loyalty too. Two different things.
Benedict Arnold was a traitor. Even after his defection many British officers considered him a traitor, a person who could not be trusted. He betrayed his comrades once before, he may betray us too.
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I was thinking about Cumberbatch.
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To the British, Benedict Arnold is 'was that the guy in the A-Team?'
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No-one in the UK knows who Benedict Arnold is.
Better than at work (Score:3)
At least this guy has the T in his name.
At my job there's a guy named Benedick.
He's Benedick.
So has my boss.
I noticed in meetings people mispronounce his name, adding a T at the end.
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>With a name like that, he MUST be guilty.
I guess the yolk's on him, then . . .
Re: First name is "Benedict" (Score:2)
hard to understand (Score:4, Interesting)
A family man invests 95% of his wealth in bitcoin? How many others are doing this? How many lives (spouses, childrenâ¦) ruined when the scam ends?
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Ah the great bitcoin crash that slashdot has been predicting for a decade now.
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It said 95% of his net worth was bitcoin, it didn't say he invested in it. He may have mined a few coins early on and has been waiting to cash in.
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It said 95% of his net worth was bitcoin... and has been waiting to cash in.
So he invested in it. Almost all of his assets.
You do understand what the term investment means don't you?
At the time of the theft. At the time he invested, it might have been .1% of his net worth. ... do you know how investing works?
Re: hard to understand (Score:2)
You're talking about some average person that dropped some money on Bitcoin... diversify, you mean like buy dogecoin? Oh no, ethereum!
While we're armchair quarterbacking their financial decisions, what they should have done is hire hitmen to take out the hackers, then build an underground vault to store their crypto keys. /eyeroll
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A family man invests 95% of his wealth in bitcoin? How many others are doing this?
If someone is stupid enough to think Bitcoin is an investment, they're stupid enough to go all-in too.
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A family man invests 95% of his wealth in bitcoin? How many others are doing this? How many lives (spouses, childrenâ¦) ruined when the scam ends?
It says nowhere he invested 95% of his wealth in Bitcoin. It says at the time of the theft, it represented 95% of his net wealth. He may have invested 1% of his wealth in Bitcoin, and it rose to 95%.
What we know is they lost some unrealized gains of up to $1,000,000 - $777,000 apparently, and we have no idea what that actually cost.
razor wit (Score:1)
A fool and his money... (Score:3, Funny)
I wonder what his accusation will be like... "Your honor, I'm a dimwit that clicks any crap that promises vast riches, so please slap these kids so I don't feel as dumb as I am"?
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I wonder what his accusation will be like... "Your honor, I'm a dimwit that clicks any crap that promises vast riches, so please slap these kids so I don't feel as dumb as I am"?
Stupidity isn't itself a crime. Theft is. Unauthorized access to a computer is too.
So yes, he will say almost exactly what you wrote, with the only addition of pointing out how the judge can make him whole.
"Your honor, I'm a dimwit that clicks any crap that promises vast riches, so please slap these kids who broke the law and take my money they illegally stole by tricking my dumb ass into running their malware"
As far as the judge will be concerned, the dumbass didn't break any laws or do anything wrong, a
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Stupidity is unfortunately not a crime, else the world would be in a vastly better state, since the idiots wouldn't rule.
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The idiots already don't rule. The unprincipled and clever do. They do however permit the idiots to think they're running something.
Re:A fool and his money... (Score:5, Informative)
I wonder what his accusation will be like... "Your honor, I'm a dimwit that clicks any crap that promises vast riches, so please slap these kids so I don't feel as dumb as I am"?
It doesn't matter. It's not illegal to be incautious, ignorant, or whatever. It is illegal to use malware to steal money.
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I wonder what his accusation will be like... "Your honor, I'm a dimwit that clicks any crap that promises vast riches, so please slap these kids so I don't feel as dumb as I am"?
Fortunately given how malware has infected infrastructure, governments, and people of all educations (I'll bet you a dollar including a sitting judge somewhere) it's very likely the judge will sympathise.
Hindsight is 20/20 (Score:1)
Who's to say the victim had the stomach to hodl during 2018? Things weren't looking good for BTC at the time, with it being in a bear market until the 2nd quarter of 2019.
If the victim hadn't dragged ass at filing a court case (sorry, Mr. victim, the statute of limitations exists for a reason), the most he should be entitled to is the value of what was stolen at the time of the theft. Ask anyone who has had a vehicle stolen, even having insurance is no guarantee you'll be able to replace what you lost wit
So wait.... Reddit??? (Score:1)
Re: So wait.... Reddit??? (Score:1)
Re: So wait.... Reddit??? (Score:1)
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"Running a program means you deserve to be a victim of theft."
Re: So wait.... Reddit??? (Score:1)
They probably thought it was a scam. (Score:3)
I mean, if I got an email saying stuff like that I would immediately mark it as spam.
1 Million of glass beads... (Score:1)
... still is just one million worthless glass beads.
It doesn't matter if some morons will give you their money in exchange for your made-up gemstones.
If you want to claim damages, you first need to prove you lost something of actual value to sane people.
Because if all you can show that you can rip off morons with it, then all you have shown is that you yourself stole $1 million from people. ...Might put a bad light on you. ;))
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In a catastrophic event, your official fiat currency is just as worthless as BTC. If you can't eat it, nobody will trade for it.
While the system is working, BTC is essentially underpinned by the same thing as the dollar: society.
The parents should have known?! (Score:2)
'the parents "knew or reasonably should have known" what their children were up to, and that they also failed to take "reasonable steps" in preventing further harm'
Seriously? How many parents of teenage kids have the slightest idea what their kids are up to? This would imply parents know that kids are watching porn...
Re: The parents should have known?! (Score:1)
Ancient concept, lost on dumb people (Score:2)
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Also unlawful in the UK.
Children are not property here.
Pointless (Score:2)
A lot of comments focus on his bitcoin stupidity but his stupidity runs far deeper. He is no different to the victims of catfishing falling for follow up recovery/revenge scams.
Assuming he wins uncontested in the US, any judgement will have no legal standing in the UK. It is pointless, it will be unenforceable in the UK.
He is being scammed again, this time by his own lawyers.
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At best the alleged connection seems extremely tenuous. The evidence amounts to one of the alleged child defendant asking a question on Github.
This looks alot like extortion by empty threat.