An antique dealer in Taiwan was robbed of US $ 500,000 in digital currency after his only accounts were hacked last month, police said on Sunday.

Police said the money was held in two coin accounts in the United States, after a customer made a payment of $ 3.08 million to the merchant in the cryptocurrency.

However, the antiquarian noticed last month that several transfers from Tether accounts were made to other people’s online accounts.

The transactions had not been initiated by him or one of the employees to whom he had given access to the accounts, police said.

The Chiayi City-based trader has changed the account’s password several times, but failed to stop the unauthorized transfers, according to city police.

He then reported the matter to Chiayi Police, but by then the hackers had already withdrawn around US $ 500,000 in cryptocurrency from the accounts, police said.

Tether operators were able to freeze the remaining $ 2.6 million in online accounts after the Taiwan Bureau of Criminal Investigation intervened, police said.

Investigators in Taiwan identified the hackers’ Internet Protocol address, which was linked to a cloud service provider in New Taipei City, police said.

Based on the information obtained during the initial investigation, account passwords and other vital information appeared to have been stolen by hackers who gained access to the cell phones of the antique dealer and his. employees, police said, adding that the case is still ongoing. under investigation.

Launched in 2014, Tether is considered a stable cryptocurrency because its value is pegged to the US dollar and is said to be backed by reserves of cash and cash equivalents.