Vietnam’s authorities apprehended and jailed a hacker who stole money and data from a local cryptocurrency exchange. The individual, who was detained and accused of extorting the proprietor of the trading site, has been ordered to refund the money he stole.
A native of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, was sentenced to ten years in prison for stealing 300 million Vietnamese dong (about $13,000) from a crypto entrepreneur whose currency trading platform he hacked.
The hacker, Nham Hoang Khang, was charged with extortion and convicted on Friday by the city’s People’s Court, according to the English-language edition of the VN Express daily. He was also ordered to refund the money that had been stolen.
Vu Ngoc Chau founded the crypto exchange in 2018 to connect potential buyers and sellers of cryptocurrencies, charging a fee for each transaction. Users had to create accounts and supply personal information such as their phone number, email address, and a copy of their ID.
Khang used his phone in October 2020 to make several accounts on the platform. He uncovered various vulnerabilities in the website T-rex.exchange that may be abused to obtain both data and digital money.
The hacker gained possession of a T-rex employee’s account and around 30,000 USDT the following month. The crew discovered the strange activities and locked the account to prevent additional cryptocurrency transactions.
Khang collected the personal information of 29,000 clients and produced a huge number of bogus orders after discovering that he no longer had access to the compromised account while threatening additional attacks.
He also demanded $20,000 or else he would announce that the transaction had been hacked. After receiving numerous threats, Chau instructed his subordinates to deliver Khang 300 million dong. In mid-2021, he filed a complaint with law enforcement.
Cryptocurrencies are not yet legalized or regulated in Vietnam. Despite their popularity among traders and investors, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are not recognized as assets or payment methods by the State Bank of Vietnam or Vietnamese legislation.
