When I get rich, I won’t tell anyone. But there will be signs.
The US District Court indicted 12 people — US citizens and foreigners — on four counts for hacking in the US and abroad. The total amount of stolen funds exceeds $243 million. Several suspects were arrested this week in California, and two more are likely to be hiding in Dubai. According to the case file, the criminal organization operated from October 2023 to March 2025.
Most of the accused are about 20 years old. They spent $4 million in nightclubs, and another $9 million on branded clothing, luxury villa rentals, security, and a fleet of at least 28 exotic cars worth between $100,000 and $3.8 million.
The hackers hacked websites and servers to get cryptocurrency databases or bought them on the darknet. Then they searched the databases for the richest victims. Calls were made under the guise of cyber specialists who allegedly helped to secure accounts. The stolen cryptocurrency was laundered by cashing out or making bank transfers.
The suspects used numerous disguise mechanisms, including peel chains, virtual proxy wallets, and VPNs. In particular, on August 18, 2024, Malone Lam lured more than 4,100 bitcoins (about $230 million at the time) from a victim in Washington, DC. According to ZachXBT crypto detective, these assets were stolen from the lender later of the bankrupt Genesis crypto platform.
In another case, in July 2024, he and his accomplices stole more than $14 million worth of cryptocurrency. The group also resorted to burglaries. In July 2024, Marlon Ferro, according to investigators, broke into a home in New Mexico and stole a hardware wallet while Lem was tracking the victim’s whereabouts via her iCloud.
In addition, the defendants in the case were engaged in money laundering by exchanging cryptocurrency for cash without a license, booking private flights, renting luxury housing with false documents, registering expensive cars for shell companies, and sending cash by mail, hiding it in Squishmallow toys.
Source: Justice.gov, ZachXBT