The Canadian police have arrested a teenager in connection with the theft of CAD$46 million in cryptocurrency from a victim in the US.

He was arrested for theft over $5000 and possession of property or proceeds of property obtained by crime. Authorities also said more than $5.5 million (more than CAD$7 million) in cryptocurrency was seized.

The victim was targeted in a SIM swap attack. The technique involves manipulating employees at a wireless network services provider into transferring the victim’s phone number to a SIM card in the attacker’s possession.

This allows the cybercriminals to intercept phone calls and SMS messages the victim might receive, including those that contain two-factor authorization codes.

The joint investigation revealed that some of the stolen cryptocurrency was used to purchase an online username that was considered to be rare in the gaming community

The unnamed youth was arrested after some of the stolen funds was used to buy an online username "considered to be rare in the gaming community.