A major player in the cryptocurrency and blockchain industry and co-founder of BitAngels, Michael Terpins has said major phone companies pose a major threat to crypto investors.
Terpins mentioned this in an interview with Cointelegraph at the BlockShow Americas 2018 in Las Vegas, USA which started on Monday 20 August.
In his words, Terpins said:
“Right now, the biggest risk to anybody who’s high profile in the crypto industry, and really anybody who has identifiable involvement in the community, is that major phone companies promise you security and don’t deliver it.”
The crypto investor recounted his ordeals with crypto hackers in which he lost a fortune, saying he had been hacked on two different occasions because phone companies do not keep their promises of securing clients’ assets.
He spoke of AT&T, a major telecommunication company and provider of mobile phones in the United States, saying their negligence cost him his assets contrary to the promise of security the company gave him.
The hackers stole money amounting to $24 million according to the report by having access to Terpin’s pass code allegedly through an AT&T rep.
“The only reason that they did get in there is because AT&T allowed one of their reps in a store in Connecticut to give my six-digit code that they told me when I requested a higher level of authorization of security.”
He added:
“Either the person is a complete idiot and cooperating with the hackers unknowingly — which still shouldn’t have been allowed under the way that they promised it to me — or he’s part of the gang and just got bribed.”
According to Terpin, the case of digital asset hacking is not random rather it is done by an organized international organizations and must be taken seriously to combat the incidences of hacks which he said increases with increase in cryptocurrency value particularly bitcoin.
He warned all major investors in the crypto industry never to give their account information to any of the four major phone companies in the US if they must use the companies. Alternatively, he recommended the use of Google voice numbers which he said he uses currently.
Concerning tracking and reclaiming the funds, Terpins expressed optimism that the FBI would get to the root of the matter and solve the case.
“The FBI are very good at sort of following the trail and they’ll do what they do. And I’m certainly working with all of those law enforcement agencies. I have been doing that since the day this happened.”
Speaking on ICOs, the top investor said it is too early to conclude on the death of ICOs as the same thing was said of the internet which is now an invaluable resource. He is optimistic that ICOs and cryptocurrency will endure even though there may be some “movements up and down”.
