Dimond Kaplan & Rothstein, P.A., along with co-counsel Brian Levin at Levin Law, P.A., recently achieved another significant victory in an AAA arbitration on behalf of a client who was the victim of a SIM swap attack. In this case, our client suffered the theft of approximately a quarter million dollars of cryptocurrency.
Understanding the SIM Swap Threat
An unauthorized SIM swap occurs when a malicious actor convinces a mobile phone carrier to transfer a customer's phone service to a different SIM card. This allows the attacker to intercept all calls and text messages intended for the victim's phone number. Critically, this includes two-factor authentication (2FA) codes sent by cryptocurrency platforms like Coinbase, Crypto.com, or Binance. By intercepting these codes, the attacker gains unauthorized access to the victim's cryptocurrency accounts and can swiftly drain their funds.
Our Approach
In this case, we successfully demonstrated to the arbitrator that the mobile carrier committed numerous cybersecurity failures that ultimately enabled the SIM swap attack and the subsequent theft of our client's cryptocurrency. These failures included inadequate security protocols and a lack of sufficient safeguards to prevent unauthorized SIM swaps.
The Outcome
The AAA arbitrator awarded $278,000 in damages to our client, plus interest, and $25,000 in additional damages under Washington state’s consumer protection statute. Typically, our contingency fee is deducted from our client’s recovery. In this case, however, the AAA arbitrator ordered the mobile carrier to pay my firm and co-counsel total attorneys’ fees of $580,000.
In another case, earlier this year, there was another unauthorized “SIM swap” case in which nearly $300,000 of our client’s cryptocurrency was stolen. In this case, we again demonstrated that the mobile carrier committed numerous cybersecurity failures. The AAA arbitrator awarded our client damages in the amount of $290,000, and ordered the mobile carrier to pay $362,000 in attorneys’ fees.
Along with co-counsel, Brian Levin, we settled another AAA arbitration on behalf of a SIM swap/cryptocurrency theft victim. This SIM swap resulted in the theft of more than $2 million of our client’s cryptocurrency after the mobile carrier performed an unauthorized “SIM swap” of our client’s mobile phone service. We alleged that the mobile carrier breached various data privacy obligations and that the cryptocurrency platform itself had a number of cybersecurity breaches. In the two AAA arbitration proceedings, the mobile carrier paid our client $750,000 and the cryptocurrency platform paid our client $1.375 million, resulting in the recovery of all of our client’s losses.
Another cryptocurrency theft victim came to us with nearly a quarter of a million dollars lost due to an unauthorized SIM swap. As with our other SIM swap victories, we demonstrated to the arbitrator that the mobile carrier committed a series of cybersecurity violations that caused the thefts of our client’s cryptocurrency. The AAA arbitration awarded damages to our client in the amount of $253,000, plus more than $30,000 in interest. The mobile carrier was also ordered to pay $275,000 in attorneys’ fees.
DKR continues to pursue various cybersecurity, data privacy, and data breach cases.
Dimond Kaplan & Rothstein, P.A.: Fighting for Victims of Cybersecurity Fraud
This victory builds upon our firm's successful track record in pursuing cybersecurity, data privacy, and data breach cases. We are committed to holding negligent companies accountable and helping victims recover their losses.
If you believe you have been a victim of a SIM swap attack or another form of cybersecurity fraud, please contact us for a free consultation. Our experienced attorneys can assess your situation and advise you on the best course of action. Give us a call at (888) 578-6255 or visit us online to start your recovery process.
