Identify theft, crypto fraud: AT&T faces $224 million lawsuit

BitAngels co-founder Michael Terpin has filed a lawsuit against AT&T (T) at Los Angeles District Court, alleging that he was robbed $24 million worth of cryptocurrency in a case of “digital identity theft.” Terpin claims that the theft would not have occurred, had not there been a lapse from the side of his service provider AT&T.

According to the $224 million lawsuit, the California-based plaintiff alleges the theft happened due to “AT&T’s willing cooperation with the hacker, gross negligence, violation of its statutory duties, and failure to adhere to its commitments in its Privacy Policy.” He added that this was the second time his account was being hacked in almost seven months.

As per the complaint, the miscreants got access to his phone number with the help of an insider, using which, they were able to use Terpin’s cryptocurrency account. Terpin added that his phone number was later passed on to an international criminal racket following the robbery.

Meanwhile, the wireless service provided disputed the allegation in a statement, adding it is looking forward to presenting its case in the court.

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Terpin is a known figure in the digital currency circles for founding BitAngels, an angel group for bitcoin investors. He also founded the first digital currency fund, BitAngels/Dapps Fund.

AT&T shares were relatively flat at 2:20 PM ET.