Bitcoin scams have been rampant since the market started gaining popularity. Since its over a decade-long existence, there has been an uncountable number of scams. Some of these scams have become well-known that most people do not fall for them again. But others have evolved to be harder to spot. Hiding in the shadows so the victims do not even suspect that they are the subject of an attack. This is what happened in the case of an American man, who lost 16.24552 bitcoins, almost $1 million, to teens in the U.K. How The Loss Happened Andrew Schober is a Colorado resident who had accumulated a reasonable number of bitcoins. An avid Redditor, Schober had followed cryptocurrencies on the site. This is where he came across a link to download a Bitcoin wallet. Schober clicked the link and download the Electrum Atom Bitcoin wallet, in what was seemingly a straightforward process. Related Reading | Coinbase Will Invest 10% Of Its Profits In Crypto Going Forward Unknown to him, Schober had also picked up a piece of clipboard hijacking malware from this download. This malware then went on to redirect Schober’s 16.4552 BTC to a wallet that was owned by two teenagers who lived in the U.K. At the time of the theft, the coins were worth £146,800. Tracking Down The Bitcoin This amount was a significant part of Schober’s wealth, making up about 95% of his entire network. As was quoted in a letter sent to the teen’s parents by Schober, th...
