French international soccer striker Kylian Mbappé filed a complaint on March 31 for the unauthorized use of his name on a cryptocurrency scam network, which is being investigated by local authorities. According to the newspaper L’Équipe, the soccer player, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain, is being impersonated to use his name in advertising campaigns for the alleged scam that involves a cryptocurrency acquisition scheme. These advertising posts cited false statements by Mbappé, where he allegedly claimed that the formula offered by the network was miraculous and that people could become a millionaire in two or three months. Fake advertising articles …

While Telegram isn’t giving up its ongoing legal battle with United States regulators to launch its TON blockchain project, some online perpetrators are taking advantage of the messenger’s popularity to expose millions of user records of third-party versions of Telegram app. Per an investigation by cybersecurity firm Comparitech and security researcher Bob Diachenko, at least 42 million Iranian “Telegram” usernames and phone numbers were leaked via unofficial Iranian-made versions of Telegram, while real Telegram is banned in the country. 42 million Iranians that are willing to use the banned messenger got their data exposed According to a March 30 report …

Black hat hacker group, Maze, claims to have used ransomware to compromise the systems of insurance giant, Chubb. They also claim to have stolen the firm’s data. Brett Callow, threat analyst at cybersecurity firm, Emsisoft, told Cointelegraph on March 27 that Maze published the claim on its website. While the website does not provide any direct proof of the hack so far, Callow pointed out facts that give the claim an air of credibility: “Maze’s past victims include governments, law firms, healthcare providers, manufacturers, medical research companies, healthcare providers and more.” Maze’s modus operandi Callow explained that the group usually …

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has charged a Russian hacker for stealing private information, and has shut down his platform — Deer.io, which moved funds via crypto assets. The FBI shut down the Deer platform on March 24, as per a statement from the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ). The platform’s “suspected administrator – alleged Russian hacker Kirill Victorovich Firsov - was arrested and charged with crimes related to the hacking of U.S. companies for customers’ personal information,” the DoJ noted. The FBI detained the alleged infiltrator weeks ago The FBI took Firsov into custody on March 7 while …

United Kingdom police forces have received hundreds of blackmailing complaints since 2018, in which nefarious parties demanded Bitcoin (BTC). By tracking numbers from 2018 and 2019 across thirteen U.K. police teams, think tank Parliament Street found 562 reports of blackmailers demanding Bitcoin, said a March 19 statement provided to Cointelegraph. Some places saw a larger spike than others England’s North Yorkshire Police force saw a massive spike in reported Bitcoin blackmailing cases in 2019. The outfit reported a mere six incidents in 2018, while 2019 yielded 115 accounts, the statement detailed. One report showed ransomware efforts in which a hacker …

In the midst of the global emergency caused by the Coronavirus pandemic, the Argentine government confirmed on March 14 that they suffered a hack on the website of their official gazette (Boletin Official) based on blockchain technology, where false statements regarding the coronavirus were spread. According to officials quoted by El Cronista, there were direct hacking attempts that failed to enter the newsletter's system. Still, the hackers located a vulnerability that allowed fake news to be spread through edition 34,239 of the bulletin. Such information mentioned some guidelines that were supposedly adopted for state employees amid the coronavirus emergency in …

A report published by the Better Business Bureau (BBB) says that cryptocurrency-related scams are continually growing, becoming the second most risky of 2019 among North Americans. According to research from trust-gauging organization published on March 2nd, scams averaged about $3,000 in losses for businesses and charities within Canada and the United States. The usual tactic, the study claims, is that of false promises of a "significant" return on investment in cryptocurrencies. With such figures on the table, it represents a notable uptick since their 2018 report’s numbers, which put average losses at $900. Trading in crypto exchanges with security breaches …

Users are accusing Estonian cryptocurrency exchange, Crex24, of hiding the scale of a hack from its users after suspending trade for several altcoin pairings. Crex24’s members claim that the exchange has not given an explanation for its suspension of more than sixty altcoins. The exchange has also frozen withdrawal and deposit services for many of the platform’s coins. Despite the apparent disruption to services and calls for answers on Twitter, the exchange’s social media posts suggest that it has been more interested in trying to drum up support for new listings than addressing the concerns of its users. Accusation mount …

Cryptocurrency companies may constantly be trying to improve their usability and security, but when there’s a weakness for hackers to exploit, they go big or go home. According to court documents released by Seamus Hughes at Program on Extremism, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia already convened a grand jury to issue an indictment against two individuals in a massive crypto theft. The case, titled “United States of America v. Tian Yinyin and Li Jiadong”, charges that the two Chinese nationals stole nearly $250 million worth of virtual currencies between July 2018 and April 2019. The …

Speaking at the RSA Conference in San Francisco, cybersecurity experts Aaron Turner and Georgia Weidman discussed two-factor authentication and biometrics as means to securing one’s phone. Although they concur that the two-factor authentication is the way to go, there are certain caveats. Authenticator apps like Google Authenticator generally provide better security than SMS-based schemes, however, they are only as good as the devices running them. iOS v. Android — safest phones Turner also dispels the myth that iPhones are more secure than Android devices and warns against iPhones that run anything but the latest iOS 13. Amongst android smartphones, he …

On Feb. 24, a California federal judge ruled that cryptocurrency investor Michael Terpin can proceed with his lawsuit against telecom corporation AT&T over a $24 million SIM hacking incident. Terpin is arguing that an AT&T agent who was bribed by a criminal gang supplied data that allowed the hackers to steal $24 million worth of cryptocurrency in January 2018. Terpin is a prominent cryptocurrency investor who founded BitAngels in 2013. On June 11, 2017, hackers were purportedly able to gain control of the investor’s phone number through a SIM swapping attack — allowing them to impersonate Terpin and convince one …

Altcoin Bitcoin Cash (BCH) has become the subject of intense speculation after a major investor claimed he lost $30 million in a wallet hack. In a now-deleted Reddit post from Feb. 22, the investor, who appears to be Dreamhost founder Josh Jones, said the attacker also stole 1,500 Bitcoin (BTC) worth $14.4 million. Hacker steals reported $45M The hack came in the form of Jones’ SIM card being compromised. So far, he has not confirmed whether this was a so-called “SIM swap,” or whether the funds were commandeered by other means. In the deleted post, Jones appealed to BCH miners …