'SIM swap' that enabled theft of $63K in bitcoin at centre of B.C. court case
CTV
A Freedom Mobile customer who sued the company for negligence after a "SIM swap" scam cost him more than $63,000 in bitcoin will have to go through the company's arbitration process to pursue his claim, a B.C. court has ruled.
A Freedom Mobile customer who sued the company for negligence after a "SIM swap" scam cost him more than $63,000 in bitcoin will have to go through the company's arbitration process to pursue his claim, a B.C. court has ruled.
Alireza Tahmasebpour and his son Sepehr filed a lawsuit in B.C. Supreme Court alleging that the mobile phone carrier had been negligent when it allowed a fraudster impersonating Alireza to obtain a new SIM card with Sepehr's phone number in January 2021.
Freedom did not file a response to the allegations, instead petitioning the court to dismiss the case because of a mandatory arbitration clause in its terms of service that requires customer disputes to be resolved outside of court.
In a decision published Thursday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice F. Matthew Kirchner expressed reservations about Freedom's case, but nevertheless concluded that an arbitrator – not the courts – must decide who has jurisdiction over the matter.
Kirchner's decision explains that Sepehr has had a cellphone associated with Alireza's plan since 2015, when Alireza opened his account with WIND Mobile, Freedom's predecessor.
Sepehr got a new iPhone at the Mobile Shop in North Vancouver in December 2018, and Alireza accompanied him to make the purchase. According to the decision, both men claim that they were never given the terms of service that included the mandatory arbitration clause.
The incident that led to the litigation occurred roughly two years after Sepehr got his new phone.
