Key Takeaways:
Late last month, two men were arrested by the FBI and charged for their alleged involvement in a scam that saw a quarter of a billion dollars worth of Bitcoin being stolen from a single victim.
Malone Lam and Jeandiel Serrano were charged with conspiring to steal and launder 4,100 BTC, worth approximately $252 million at current price, from a Washington DC resident in August 2024.
FBI Arrest Crypto Scammers Involved In Stealing 4,100 BTC From A Single Victim’s Wallet
According to an indictment by the US Department of Justice, Lam, a citizen of Singapore and living in Miami who goes by the online monikers “Anne Hathaway” and “$$$”, and Serrano, a resident of Los Angeles who uses “VersaceGod” and “@SkidStar”, were arrested on September 19.
Lam and Serrano are accused of conspiring with others to steal crypto assets and launder ill-gotten gains through exchanges and token-mixing services.
As per reports, the duo’s heist began on August 19, when they contacted their intended victim by posing as Google Support employees. The hackers tricked the victim into sharing their screen, allowing them to steal the private keys to the individual’s crypto wallet. The victim was then asked to reset the 2FA used to protect the wallet, enabling the hackers to send the Bitcoins to a wallet under their control.
Lam and Serrano would then launder the proceeds using various techniques to obscure the transaction. The duo utilized VPNs, pass-through wallets, and peel chains – which are used to move large amounts of cryptocurrency by breaking it down into numerous smaller transactions. These strategies makes it harder to track the fund’s original source and ultimate destination.
Blockchain Investigator ZachXBT Helped Authorities Track Down Malone Lam
Crypto sleuth ZackXBT’s investigation played a key role in tracing the alleged culprits, which ultimately led to their arrests and recovery of the stolen funds. The crypto investigator provided transaction hashes that confirmed the flow of 59.34 BTC and 14.88 BTC, collectively worth around $4.55 million, which were stolen during the attack. This was followed by the transfer of 4,064 BTC, worth $252 million, which was split among the hackers.
The stolen funds were converted into Ethereum (ETH), Monero (XMR), and US dollars.
Apparently, the third member of the team, Veer Chetal, who goes by the online moniker “Wiz”, made a costly error by sharing a screenshot that exposed his name. Chetal and his friend, Aakaash, allegedly attempted to launder the funds through exchanges such as eXch and Thorswap.
Despite the efforts to cover their tracks, the scammers linked laundered funds to the stolen assets by reusing wallet addresses.
Hackers Spent the Stolen Funds on Luxury Cars, Homes, Watches, and Night Outs
The DoJ’s indictment claims that Lam and Serrano spent the stolen funds on international travel, nightclubs, luxury cars, watches, jewelry, designer bags, and rental homes in Los Angeles and Miami.
ZachXBT posted a lengthy thread on X detailing how the duo set the trap up for themselves. Surprisingly, the scammers were recording themselves on a Discord group chat while committing the heist and was flexing the stolen funds publicly.
Apparently, Lam was giving away designer handbags to girls at clubs. One recipient of the gift, food blogger and podcaster Skylar Harrison, shared a video on TikTok stating that he was giving away handbags and buying hundreds of bottles of expensive champagne.
Another one of Lam’s acquaintances was gifted a pink Lamborghini SUV and three Birkin bags. Reports suggest that Lam and Serrano spent upwards of $500,000 doing night outs at clubs across Miami and Los Angeles.
Meanwhile, Serrano, who impersonated a Gemini exchange representative during the heist, also left breadcrumbs linking him to the stolen Bitcoins. A series of missteps in the transaction allowed investigators to trace $18 million back to him.
Over $9 Million Worth of Funds Have Been Freezed, With $500,000 In BTC Returned to the Victim
ZachXBT worked with CF Investigators, Zeroshadow.io, and the Binance Security Team to freeze over $9 million worth of the stolen assets. They have already returned $500,000 to the victim.
The high-profile case is still under investigation and is being handled by the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, the FBI, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
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