How did thieves get into my Binance app... and why won't it pay me back £11k of stolen crypto? CRANE ON THE CASE

   Home News Royals U.S. Sport TV Showbiz Femail Health Science Money Travel Podcasts Shopping Best Buys Discounts My Profile Logout Login Money Home Business Saving & banking Investing Cost of living & bills Cars Cards & loans Pensions Mortgages Buy-to-let My Profile Logout Login Privacy Policy Feedback Thursday, Oct 3rd 2024 10AM 8°C 1PM 10°C 5-Day Forecast Advertisement How did thieves get into my Binance app... and why won't it pay me back £11k of stolen crypto? CRANE ON THE CASE Reader thought he had good security, so how did the thief bypass it? By Crane on the Case Updated:06:00 BST, 3 October 2024 e-mail 11 View comments In July, I had my phone snatched while waiting for a taxi in central London at around 1am. A man on foot grabbed it and sprinted off. The phone was unlocked when he took it, because I was tracking the taxi. Once I got home, I was able to lock the phone remotely at 2:17am using the 'find my iPhone' app on my wife's phone. When I logged into my emails on my iPad, I saw that the thief had got into my Binance cryptocurrency account and transferred out 5.16 ethereum at 1:43am. This was worth approximately $15,000 or £11,300. Snatched: Our reader had his mobile phone stolen while waiting for a taxi in London I don't understand how anyone was able to get into it. My phone and Binance app were both protected by a password and Face ID, and the Binance account required me to use Google Authenticator for verification, as well as entering a passkey I set to transfer anything out of the app. I've complained to Binance, but it says it can't recover my money and therefore won't reimburse. N.C, London RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next How is YOUR bank protecting you from rising tide of AI voice...Scam victim payouts watered down from proposed £415,000...EXPOSED: How AI chatbots are being used to teach crooks how...O2 is chasing my 86-year-old dad for £169 debt after he was... Share this article Share Helen Crane of This is Money replies: The phone snatchers terrorising the streets show no signs of giving up, and I am sorry to hear you have been a victim. Binance is a cryptocurrency trading platform, where investors can buy and sell coins or tokens and track the value of their holdings. The ethereum coins stolen from you were transferred out of your Binance 'wallet' to an account held by the thief on a different trading platform. The thieves also stole £13,000 from your bank account with Revolut. However, that money was returned to you. It has left you wondering why one financial institution would agree to reimburse you, and another would not. You are also concerned about how the thieves got into your Binance account, which you thought was a digital Fort Knox. CRANE ON THE CASE Our weekly column sees This is Money consumer expert Helen Crane tackle reader problems and shine the light on companies doing both good and bad. Want her to investigate a problem, or do you want to praise a firm for going that extra mile? Get in touch: helen.crane@thisismoney.co.uk When you first got in touch with Binance, it said that there was nothing it could do because, while you had reported the theft to police, a named officer had not been assigned to the case. However, an officer from the City of London police was later assigned - and still, Binance did nothing. You were ultimately told that, once crypto leaves the Binance platform, there is nothing Binance can do to recover it. That is true, but in many cases where scam or theft victims get their money back from a bank - or another financial service like Binance - the cash itself is never actually recovered. Banks often decide to pay back the victim anyway, unless they have been negligent by for example giving away their Pin number. And other cryptocurrency platforms have avenues to get reimbursed too, including Coinbase's account guarantee pilot which I covered in a previous column and which provides one-off protection of up to £150,000 for its customers. The issue with all of this is that none of it is enshrined in law. If your money is stolen, it is still ultimately up to the bank or platform to decide whether you'll get it back. Big changes are coming next week - but only for banks, and only for certain types of theft. The Payment Systems Regulator has new rules which force banks to refund customers up to £85,000 if they fall for an authorised push payment (APP) scam, which is where they are tricked in to transferring money to a criminal. Into the ether: The cryptocurrency - worth more than £11,000 - was transferred out of N.C's Binance 'wallet' to an account held by the thief on a different trading platform As your money was held in an investment account, and this was not an APP scam, the new rules don't apply. Nonetheless, I got in touch with Binance to ask whether it would reconsider. Unfortunately, it decided to stand firm. It told me that it will only reimburse customers in cases where Binance itself is found to be at fault for the loss. A spokesman said: 'If Binance is notified about a stolen device, we take immediate steps to protect the associated account and restrict further activity until it is secured. 'Unfortunately, it appears that the attacker acted quickly on this occasion and before our user was able to contact us.' In better news, it did tell me that it had gathered some information about the transaction which could potentially help identify the person that took your phone, and that it is willing to share this with police. Binance also addressed your question about how the thief had managed to access your account, despite you having Face ID and two-factor authentication activated, and setting a passkey for Binance. It confirmed that the thief entered your passkey when the Ethereum was transferred. The spokesman said: 'The attacker may have been able to pass security if they had obtained the passcode, were able to guess the passcode on the device, or had observed the victim entering the passcode prior to stealing the phone.' You admitted that your phone passcode was the same as your Binance passkey, but you think it is unlikely the thief saw you enter it when they stole the phone, as it all happened so fast. Another possibility is that the thief saw the passcode earlier in the evening. I have heard reports of thieves hanging around bars and waiting until they see someone open their phone, for example to buy a drink, and then noting down the passcode and targeting them for the phone later. Refusal: The crypto platform said it will only reimburse fraud victims in cases where Binance itself is found to be at fault for the loss It is something This is Money columnist Dave Fishwick observed, when he spent time with the City of London police chasing down the mobile-stealing criminals. It is a good idea not to have the same password for your phone, as well as your money apps - as this leaves you exposed. As for Face ID, Apple allows users to use the passcode for the phone as a 'fall back' option when the face isn't recognised - in most circumstances. Users can stop this happening by opting in to a new feature called stolen device protection, which Apple introduced in March. I would really recommend that every iPhone user activates this - it can be found under 'Settings' and then 'Face ID and passcode'. Read More Bank of Dave on what you MUST do to keep your phone safe - as he goes 'catching baddies' with London police It means that when the phone is in an unfamiliar location (not the owner's home or work) their credit cards can only be accessed using Face ID or Touch ID, and the user won't be able to enter a password as a 'fall back' option. An hour delay is also placed on certain actions such as changing the phone's password, to give them time to report it as stolen. Binance said: 'As this is a device security failure, which is not the fault of Binance, we are unfortunately not able to offer reimbursement.' It also recommended that users enable a feature called 'IP and wallet address whitelisting'. This allows them to set a list of accounts which their crypto can be sent to - and if there is an attempt to send it elsewhere, it won't work. I do think it is a little disappointing that you are being penalised for Apple's security shortcomings. While Binance is entitled to make its own rules on reimbursements, it has been less generous than most banks - and even some other crypto platforms - would be in the same circumstances. You told me you continue to work with the police to find the culprit, which is admirable. Catching those responsible is the best way to cut the number of phones being nicked. But there are also things we can do to protect ourselves - and I hope others can learn from your experience. If you haven't yet beefed up the security on your bank accounts and crypto wallets, this is your signal to do so. CRANE ON THE CASE I'm still paying Amex fees for a card I cancelled 17 YEARS ago Our pushchair was broken on a Ryanair flight - and I can't claim O2 is chasing my 86-year-old dad for £169 debt after he was scammed My Evri parcel went AWOL: Can I make the firm keep looking for it? My mother-in-law's debit card was stolen and thieves took out cash NCP charged me £300 for losing my car park ticket Share or comment on this article: How did thieves get into my Binance app... and why won't it pay me back £11k of stolen crypto? CRANE ON THE CASE e-mail Add comment Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence. 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