Federal authorities have brought charges against five individuals for plotting a high-brow phish; that is, employees across the whole country were in the crosshairs. The serfdom had eloped with company data and money laundering through cryptocurrency accounts, thus gaining millions worth of stolen money.
The defendants are being prosecuted for sending customers fraudulent text messages to deceive them into believing it was a mistake or their default was from a trustworthy IT provider. These messages were posing as employees’ accounts of being in danger of deactivation and ordering them to access scams. They imitate legal sites and thus hack their login information.
Cybercrime Group Charged in Data Theft
According to the sources provided, the group utilized the stolen information to gain access to the company systems; in this way, they could get means of intellectual property and personal data theft as well as hack cryptocurrency wallets.
The accused include:
- Ahmed Hossam Eldin Elbadawy (23), also known as “AD,” from College Station, Texas.
- Noah Michael Urban (20), alias “Sosa” and “Elijah,” from Palm Coast, Florida.
- Evans Onyeaka Osiebo (20), from Dallas, Texas.
- Joel Martin Evans (25), known as “joeleoli,” from Jacksonville, North Carolina.
- Tyler Robert Buchanan (22), from the United Kingdom.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation captured Evans in North Carolina. Besides, Urban, who has been investigated for fraud in Florida, has not admitted the accusation in another case. “We accuse the hackers of having organized a plan well-thought-out to the point of stealing the intellectual property and proprietary information of nearly $100 million and obtaining. The personal information of hundreds of thousands of individuals,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada stated.
FBI Probes Phishing Scam in Crypto Theft
FBI Assistant Director Akil Davis added, “According to the prosecution. The defendants who were being masterminded by the kingpin in this phishing sca, lured victims into giving their personal information, and then from those documents, they pilfered a huge sum in cryptocurrency accounts.”
The fish won’t make any new friends whose actions speak against them because if they are convicted. They will face heavy sentences, one of the penalties being 20 years in prison for wire fraud charges. In addition to working with international law enforcement agencies, the FBI is also investigating this case.
In Summary
Federal authorities have charged five individuals who had a well-developed phishing scheme that they used to scam employees nationwide. The group reportedly obtained company information, intellectual property, and private data to hack cryptocurrency accounts, and money laundering was also involved. The scam pertained to sending false text messages and impersonating IT providers. Thus tricking the victims into providing login credentials on bogus websites.
The charged individuals are Ahmed Elbadawy (23), Noah Urban (20), Evans Osiebo (20), Joel Evans (25), and Tyler Buchanan (22). The FBI has reined in Evans in North Carolina, while others are persons of interest in connection with other fraud-related offenses. Prosecutors say the nearly $100 million that affected hundreds of thousands of people is almost twelve months and a half.
The FBI, working hand-in-hand with international bodies, is still in the middle of the investigation. Should they be found guilty, the accused will most likely be met with the following weighty penalties: up to two decades in co-imprisonment due to wire fraud.
