Hacker Gets Arrested For Stealing Money From Vietnamese Crypto Exchange: Report

Hoang Khang collected the personal data of over 29,000 customers and made many fake orders, only to threaten with more such cyberattacks in the future. The court has ordered him to return the money.

A man accused of stealing over $13,000 after hacking a local cryptocurrency exchange has been arrested and sent to jail. Nham Hoang Khang, the hacker, has been charged with extorting the trading platform's owner and has now been ordered to pay back the stolen money. The resident of Ho Chi Minh City has been awarded 10 years of imprisonment for the crime of hacking and indulging in cyberattacks by the city's People's Court. T-rex.exchange, a local Vietnamese crypto exchange, was set up by Vu Ngoc Chau in 2018 to help connect buyers and sellers of cryptocurrencies. It also accepted fees for facilitating transactions. Users need to open accounts and give personal information, including phone numbers, email addresses, and other identification documents.

When Khang created multiple accounts on the platform in October 2020, he learned that the website had many vulnerabilities with the potential to be misused to access data and digital currency.

Gradually, the hacker gained control of a T-rex employee's account and about 30,000 USDT, before the organisation discovered some problematic transactions. Following this event, the account was locked to stop future operations with the cryptocurrency.

After realising that Khang had lost access to the hacked account, he collected the personal data of over 29,000 customers. Following that, he issued numerous bogus orders and threatened further cyberattacks.

He also blackmailed the organisation into paying him about $20,000 failing which he would divulge details of the hack to the public, reported Bitcoin.com

After receiving multiple threats, the crypto exchange owner, Chau, asked his employees to pay about $13,000 to Khang. A legal complaint was filed with the law enforcement authorities in mid-2021.

Cryptocurrencies are not regulated in Vietnam. It is not even legalised in the country. However, the State Bank of Vietnam continues to use popular crypto coins such as Bitcoin and others for payments.

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