The US authorities have charged five individuals with hacking multiple businesses and stealing $11 million (roughly Rs. 92.8 crore) using the Scattered Spider technique. The stolen funds were in cryptocurrency, known for its speed and relative anonymity in transactions. The accused—Ahmed Hossam Eldin Elbadawy, Noah Michael Urban, Evans Onyeaka Osiebo, Tyler Robert Buchanan, and Joel Martin Evans—now face charges, with further investigations underway to evaluate the case.
An official announcement shared by the US Attorney’s Office stated the individuals were allegedly targeting corporate employees with malicious text messages. The aim was to phish the victims for funds and sensitive information.
“The defendants then used the harvested employee credentials to log in and steal non-public company data and information and to hack into virtual currency accounts to steal millions of dollars in cryptocurrency,” the announcement said.
As per CoinTelegraph, at least 29 victims who fell prey to the hackers have spoken with the law enforcement officers. Claims made by the prosecutors reportedly reveal that one victim lost over $6.3 million (roughly Rs. 53.2 lakh) in crypto assets. The email and digital wallet of this particular victim was violated by the hacker.
“According to court documents, from at least September 2021 to April 2023, the defendants conducted phishing attacks by sending mass short message service (SMS) text messages to mobile phones of numerous victim companies’ employees – messages that purported to be from the victim company or a contracted information technology or business services supplier of the victim company,” the document noted.
The note stated that if convicted, each defendant could face over 20 years in prison. The FBI has been assigned to conduct further investigations.
Phishing and hacking incidents have increased both in the US and globally. The US authorities have urged the crypto community to exercise caution and avoid interacting with unexpected or suspicious emails from unknown sources.
As per a report by the FBI, which was released in September, crypto-related frauds grew by 45 percent in 2023 leading to losses worth over $5.6 billion (roughly Rs. 47,029 crore).