Woman Sues Rogers After SIM Swap, $534K in Bitcoin Stolen

A woman from Squamish, B.C. says she lost more than $534,000 in Bitcoin—now worth over $1.8 million—after a hacker hijacked her phone through a SIM swap scam. The case is now heading to private arbitration after a recent B.C. Supreme Court decision.

Raelene Vandenbosch, a pharmacy manager from B.C., is suing Rogers and Match Transact. She says a phone store worker in Montreal was tricked by a fake Rogers technician into sharing their screen. That let a hacker take over her Rogers account, even though she lived on the other side of the country.

The hacker allegedly assigned her number to a new SIM card (commonly known as a SIM swap scam) and used it to access her cryptocurrency wallets, draining more than 12.5 Bitcoin from her accounts on Ledger and Shakepay. She lost access to her phone and messaging services overnight, only realizing the full extent of the theft the next day.

At the time of the theft back in June 2021, the Bitcoin was worth $534,529. As of July 4, 2025, that same amount of Bitcoin is worth more than $1.84 million.

When Vandenbosch first contacted Rogers about the issue, she was offered $95—a refund for one month of service, according to her court filing.

Vandenbosch filed lawsuits in B.C., Ontario, and Quebec, alleging negligence, breach of privacy, and breach of contract. She’s also demanding a public admission of wrongdoing from both Rogers and Match.

On June 27, B.C. Supreme Court Judge Anita Chan ruled that most of the case must go to private arbitration because of Vandenbosch’s cellphone contract with Rogers. However, the part where she asks the court to publicly say Rogers did something wrong can still move ahead, since it involves the public interest.

A Rogers spokesperson told Black Press in a statement that, “As fraudsters use constantly evolving techniques to try and take advantage of consumers across the wireless industry, we continually strengthen our security measures to protect our customers against fraudulent activity.”

Vandenbosch wanted her case to stay in court, pointing to new B.C. rules from March 2025 that ban phone companies from forcing customers into private arbitration. But Justice Chan said those rules don’t apply to older cases like hers, based on a past statement from Attorney General Niki Sharma.

There’s one exception: her request for a public finding of wrongdoing against Rogers can still go ahead. But even if she wins that part, it doesn’t mean she’ll get her Bitcoin back—especially since neither Rogers nor Match is accused of actually taking it.

Stories like these are why many people with large amounts of Bitcoin choose to store their crypto in a physical cold wallet—a device that stays completely offline to protect against hacks. But there’s a tradeoff: if you lose that wallet, your crypto is gone for good. That’s the risk of hiding it in a coffee tin in the backyard—especially if your dog decides to go digging.