B.C. woman lost over $500K in bitcoin in 2021 SIM swap fraud scheme, lawsuit alleges

Edzi'u Loverin · CBC News

· Posted: Jul 07, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: July 7

A justice has ordered a B.C. pistillate who allegedly mislaid $530,000 worthy of bitcoin successful a "SIM swap" fraud scheme to resoluteness her suit retired of the courts.

Raelene Vandenbosch began a suit successful 2023 against her cellphone institution and a mobile kiosk institution successful Quebec aft a scammer posed arsenic a technician to summation the spot of a kiosk clerk, past accessed Rogers' customer records.

Rogers Communications, Match Transact Inc. — the institution that owned the mobile kiosk., WOW! mobile boutique — a "John Doe Mobile Clerk" and "John Doe Hacker" are each named arsenic defendants.

A determination filed successful June successful the Supreme Court of British Columbia says the hacker convinced the kiosk clerk to alteration surface sharing with the scammer, giving the hacker entree to Rogers' lawsuit database, including Vandenbosch's idiosyncratic information.

"The hacker performed a SIM swap connected the plaintiff's Rogers' relationship and rapidly gained entree to her telephone number, telephone and net accounts, including the plaintiff's cryptocurrency account," Justice Anita Chan wrote in the decision.

Shortly aft the SIM swap, the hacker withdrew bitcoin from 2 of her cryptocurrency accounts, the determination reads.

"The plaintiff alleges the mislaid bitcoins were valued astatine astir $534,530 astatine the clip of the theft and were valued astatine astir $1 cardinal soon after."

What is simply a SIM swap?

Roger Gale, acquisition pb of integer translation and cybersecurity astatine the B.C. Institute of Technology (BCIT), said a SIM swap is simply a benignant of fraud wherever a scammer moves a victim's telephone fig to a caller SIM paper that is controlled by the fraudster.

"What you're trying to bash erstwhile you're doing a SIM swap is determination the telephone fig from that SIM that's successful your telephone to different SIM that you recode astatine the kiosk," Gale said.

"If you bash a SIM swap, you're not controlling their phone. You've got their phone, truthful you are them."

SIM swap scams can let hackers to exploit two-step authentication processes, helium said.

It's hard to retrieve stolen cryptocurrency or place a idiosyncratic who is utilizing it, Gale said.

"Once you transportation retired the cryptocurrency from the person's wallet, it goes into your wallet and there's lone the transaction that is recorded," helium said.

"That wallet is not needfully associated with thing with you. It doesn't needfully person immoderate relation with you but that you usage it."

Vandenbosch claimed damages against Rogers nether B.C. laws for breach of privacy, breach of contract, negligence and statutory causes of enactment nether the Business Practices and Consumer Protection Act (BPCPA).

Rogers and Match Transact Inc. argued the suit should beryllium stayed successful favour of arbitration of each of the plaintiff's claims, but for claims nether the BPCPA.

Rogers sought to enforce the arbitration clause included successful its wireless services statement and its presumption of service, the determination says.

Justice Chan stayed the suit successful favour of arbitration. 

A spokesperson for Rogers did not corroborate if and erstwhile arbitration would statesman betwixt the institution and the plaintiff. Match Transact Inc. did not respond to requests for remark astatine the clip of writing.

The plaintiff's lawyers declined to comment.

The Canadian Telecommunications Association (CTA) told CBC News successful a written connection that portion telephone companies person taken steps to mitigate SIM swaps, the relation would not disclose circumstantial methods successful bid to support the accusation from hackers.

"Our members instrumentality this contented precise earnestly and, arsenic fraudsters germinate their techniques, they continually fortify their information measures and verification procedures to support Canadians," a CTA spokesperson wrote.