When a hacker gained access to a mothballed Facebook and email address owned by Roger Ver, the angel investor was quick to publicize his wrongdoings.
“37.6 BTC reward for information that leads to the arrest of the hacker that is trying to hack all my stuff at the moment. details to come!” he tweeted this morning.
The apparent attempt to access Ver’s accounts spectacularly backfired, however, when he publicized in a Facebook message that the attacker was going by the Skype name ‘nitrous’ and even achieved contact.
When the culprit learned of the bounty riding on his head, he relinquished control and surrendered the passwords to both accounts, Ver told Coindesk. “…It started to spread until I told him I’m offering a $20k bounty for his arrest, then he gave up and gave me the password to all the hacked accounts. I’ll post all the details once I finish locking everything down,” he clarified.
With such nefarious characters on the loose around the Bitcoin network, it is heartening that a classic public naming and shaming came through for one of its household names.
It can only be hoped that the community can be used to similarly good ends in future, as it is unlikely that this is last chapter in the book of celebrity Bitcoin hacks.
“Things are back under control. Full details including the bounty for the arrest of the hacker will be posted soon,” Ver subsequently tweeted.