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Cellphones

A Fake Uber Driver Borrowed Phones, Then Stole $200K in Cryptocurrency, Police Say (gizmodo.com) 14

"A man is accused of several felony charges after he allegedly posed as an Uber driver and then stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency from customers in Scottsdale," reports Arizona news channel Fox 10.

"Prosecutors have called it an 'extremely sophisticated electronic fraud,'" reports Gizmodo, " and it's a strange approach to scamming that makes it sound unique in several ways." Nuruhussein Hussein, 40, allegedly picked up two unsuspecting people who were looking for Uber rides they'd ordered in Scottsdale — one in March and the other in October according to Fox 10 — by shouting their names on the street outside a hotel. It's not clear how Hussein may have known these people were looking for rides and court documents give no indication how he accomplished this or knew the victims would have crypto accounts, according to Fox 10, though a hotel does make sense as a target-rich environment for those looking to get picked up.

Once the victims were in the car, Hussein allegedly obtained the phones of the victims through some kind of pretense, including problems with his own phone and the need to look something up as well as a need to connect with the Uber app, according to NBC News. Hussein would then allegedly open up the victim's Coinbase account. "While manipulating the unsuspecting victim's phone the suspect transferred cryptocurrency from their digital wallet to his digital wallet," police reportedly explained in a statement.

A Fake Uber Driver Borrowed Phones, Then Stole $200K in Cryptocurrency, Police Say

Comments Filter:
  • How is handing a phone that linked to your Coinbase account is any different from letting someone hold a suitcase full of cash?
    • It's no different than people having all their banking information on their phone. Lose your phone, lose your money.

      • I donâ(TM)t know how it works in USA but any bank account in Europe wants your bank passwords for everything and often some sort of auth external to the phone to move money, like a coordinates card or some sort of pass that you need to give positions of. No one with my unlocked phone would be able to transfer money.
        • I donâ(TM)t know how it works in USA but any bank account in Europe wants your bank passwords for everything and often some sort of auth external to the phone to move money, like a coordinates card or some sort of pass that you need to give positions of. No one with my unlocked phone would be able to transfer money.

          Which begs the question; how the fuck do you even write a wallet app that doesn’t have secondary security above and beyond the damn device it’s on?

          I remember when thieves couldn’t do jack shit with my ATM card without a PIN. That’s decades old security.

      • Very different. If you hand me your phone I likely can't do shit with your banking app without getting your fingerprint or password as well. These cryptobro made apps just have rubbish security.

    • This isn't about a phone being linked, it's about fucking stupid security policies. My bank is linked with my phone as well, that doesn't mean anyone can do shit with the app when I hand my phone to them (even if it is unlocked).

  • Too many things have to be known for this to work. If this is indeed how it went down, the likely conspirator should be blindingly obvious.

    • As a follow up to my own post (bad form, I know), it could be an extremely sophisticated plot... or it could be one of a group of bros who all got into crypto at the same time. They all use the same platform, use the same apps, and were out as buddies, so they knew who called the uber. Look in the seat next to the caller... or at the caller. No better cover than appearing to be a victim.

      This is Penn and Teller making the submarine vanish. It's not complicated unless you choose to make it so.

      • ..it could be one of a group of bros who all got into crypto at the same time.

        Whatever happened to Bros before Coinbro, oh wait. Well, shit.

        Look in the seat next to the caller... or at the caller.

        * Glances at wallet nickname labeled “Juicy Smooyay” *

        SON of a..

  • ...cellphones need a guest mode.

    • Or maybe crypto apps should do basic security such as ask for a pin / fingerprint when transferring money, like Banking apps have done for 20 years now.

Reality must take precedence over public relations, for Mother Nature cannot be fooled. -- R.P. Feynman

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