In line with suggestions that crypto-related crimes are most linked with teenagers, authorities in Japan have handed over an unnamed 18-year old to prosecutors following his involvement with a crypto theft.
According to the Japan Times, the teenager who is a resident of Utsunomiya, Tochigi Prefecture repeatedly hacked Monappy, a local crypto wallet service provider, and stole roughly 15 million Yen ($134,000) worth of Monacoin.
The minor exploited a vulnerability of Monappy, a wallet provider which is now offline, to carry out the mischievous acts between August 14 to September 2018. Within that period, he sent a series of transfer requests from “hot wallet” accounts belonging to the exchange to his wallet address.
Given that the funds were in Monacoin, a cryptocurrency mainly used by the Japanese audience, he transferred the digital currency to other exchanges and converted to other cryptocurrencies before requesting a withdrawal.
The report quotes the convicted teenager saying,
“I felt like I’d found a trick no one knows and did it as if I were playing a video game.” He noted that he used part of the stolen funds to buy a smartphone and some other unnamed items.
While the attack by the 18-year old may seem like a minor crime, it has thrown the Monappy wallet service off balance with their website displaying an offline message that reads,
Currently, the service has been suspended due to external attacks.
The good news though is that the exchange revealed in a follow-up announcement that it has “completed the direct repair of defects” and was conducting a “final security check” before resuming operations.
In a similar development, Coinfomania reported that New-Zealand based cryptocurrency exchange, Cryptopia which experienced a hack in January, is gearing up to resume operations in the coming weeks.
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