Kathryn Nguyen being arrested in 2018. Source: NSW Police<\/p>\n
A 25-year-old Sydney female has been sentenced to a maximum two years and three months in jail for stealing over 100,000 'Ripple' cryptocurrency in January 2018.<\/p>\n
Kathryn Nguyen and an associate hacked into a 56-year-old mans cryptocurrency account and swapped the two-factor authentication to her mobile phone, according to News Corp.<\/p>\n
She then transferred the large sum of cryptocurrency to an overseas exchange where it was traded for bitcoin and shuffled into different wallets.<\/p>\n
The heist took place at the height of the cryptocurrency boom when Ripple coins peaked at just over $4 each netting Nguyen some $400,000 in Ripple at the time.<\/p>\n
Ripple is now worth a tenth of what it was.<\/p>\n
Police raided Nguyens home in Epping last year, seizing computers, phones, and money.<\/p>\n
She was the first Australian charged over cryptocurrency theft.<\/p>\n
Presiding judge Chris Craigie said it was a difficult and troubling decision to send Nguyen to prison and that her references reflected a generous and hardworking personality, according to News Corp.<\/p>\n
A common thread was the offenders willingness to help others, Craigie said.<\/p>\n
This takes on a different meaning in her willingly participating and assisting in a criminal enterprise.<\/p>\n
He said the offending appeared out of character and that her moral judgement was distorted at the time of cryptocurrency theft.<\/p>\n
After losing money trading bitcoin she began a business repairing designer handbags and shoes.<\/p>\n
Nguyen will be eligible for parole in October 2021.<\/p>\n
Reporting cybercrime<\/p>\n
Police began their nearly year-long investigation into Nguyen after the victim reported being locked out of his trading account.<\/p>\n
Commander of NSW Cybercrime Squad, Detective Superintendent Matthew Craft, told Information Age it was imperative for potential cybercrime victims to make a report.<\/p>\n
The problem we have nationally not just in New South Wales is that the reporting rate for cyber related crimes is very low, Craft said.<\/p>\n
The NSW Cybercrime Squad has assisted with numerous arrests over the past 12 months, helping bust local scam syndicates and identity thieves.<\/p>\n
But cybercrime transcends borders which makes the job of police more difficult.<\/p>\n
Sometimes you do have offenders that are overseas, which means theres not much law enforcement can do, Craft said.<\/p>\n
But unless you report it and we know about it, were not in a position to make that determination.<\/p>\n
Report Cyber is the official channel for reporting cyber crimes and covers a range of cyber issues including abuse, identity theft, compromised accounts, and malware.<\/p>\n
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