A Court in Spain orders probe on the complaint of a user of a crypto trading platform called Bittrex, whose 1.3 Bitcoin worth US$ 58,000 have been stolen. The Court was of the view that the victim’s lost Bitcoins may be caused due to a possible computer fraud. The police have been directed to complete their investigation and submit a report to the Court for further orders.
A Judicial Court in Spain received a complaint from an unknown user of a famous crypto trading platform called Bittrex. The complainant has alleged before the Court that he was a member of Bittrex where he had kept his Bitcoins. The complaint also told the Court that he had lost a total of 1.3 Bitcoins which were worth over and above US$ 58,000.
The complainant informed that he came to know of his loss when he made several attempts to access his Bittrex Account. It took him at least two days to access his account and when he finally did, he couldn’t find his Bitcoins. The user informed that he immediately reported to Bittrex about his lost Bitcoins that his digital funds have literally vanished.
Upon his lodging of the report, the Bittrex team noted the complaint and started working on it. After some time, the Bittrex team contacted the complainant and informed him that his digital funds may have been lost due to a possible theft. The victim was then told that the theft is cybercrime and for which the complainant should lodge a complaint with cybercrimes authorities.
When the complaint failed to retrieve his stolen or hacked funds, he instituted a complaint before the Spanish Court.
In the earlier hearings of the complaint, on 9th February, the Court ordered that police should cooperate with the victim. The Court specifically directed the local police to carry out a comprehensive investigation in the matter. As per the orders of the Court, Bittrex was also ordered to join the investigation and submit Insurance Policy before the Court.
Meanwhile, a report was also presented to the Court compiled by an expert. In the report, the expert has highlighted possibilities as to how the victim lost his Bitcoins. In the report, the expert has also put the responsibility of the theft upon the crypto trading platform as well.
The expert pointed out that as per investigation he found that the user made several attempts to access his account. He noted that at least 4 IP addresses were used within 48 hours when the user couldn’t access his account. These IP addresses were in fact allowed by the trading platform. There is the likelihood that these IP addresses were used to siphon off the digital funds belonging to the user, said the expert.
On the basis of the initial investigation report and report of the expert, the Court has directed a full-fledged inquiry into the matter. The Court noted in its order that the theft in fact seems to be a result of computer fraud.
