A British Columbia pharmacy manager is taking on major telecom players after claiming she lost over $1.8 million in Bitcoin in a SIM swap attack that occurred in 2021.
The theft, which originally involved $531,000 worth of BTC, has now escalated in both financial and legal terms.
The woman, Raelene Vandenbosch, accuses a mobile store employee of leaking her personal information to a scammer who then took control of her phone number. According to her lawsuit, the attacker used that access to drain her crypto wallets by transferring her SIM credentials and hijacking her accounts.
Her lawsuits target Rogers Communications and its partner Match Transact Inc., which operates some of its mobile kiosks. While she sought compensation in multiple provinces, the B.C. Supreme Court has ruled that most of the dispute must proceed in private arbitration, a move she contests.
The case centers on claims of negligence, privacy violations, and failure to secure sensitive data. Vandenbosch alleges that the Montreal-based store employee enabled the breach by screen-sharing with a fraudster posing as a technician. The attacker reportedly gained access to accounts on Ledger and ShakePay, stealing over 12 BTC.
While Rogers and Match have not admitted fault, both argued the case should be settled privately under existing contract terms. Vandenbosch counters that recent legal reforms in British Columbia should nullify such arbitration clauses — but the court ruled those rules cannot apply retroactively.
Despite the arbitration ruling, the court will allow a public claim seeking admission of wrongdoing to continue. A spokesperson for Rogers defended the company’s security efforts, calling crypto inherently risky and highlighting evolving threats from fraudsters.
As the case moves behind closed doors, Vandenbosch’s chances of recovering her now much more valuable Bitcoin may depend on whether the companies are ever held publicly accountable.
