The U.S. Department of Justice Charges 12 People in $263 Million Cryptocurrency Fraud Case
According to PANews, the U.S. Department of Justice has charged 12 individuals in connection with a $263 million cryptocurrency fraud scheme allegedly orchestrated by Malone Lam. The group is accused of using tactics such as social engineering scams, database breaches, and physical hardware wallet theft. Lam himself faces charges for one fraud scheme amounting to $230 million. Currently, 10 of the defendants have been arrested, while two accomplices remain at large in Dubai.
The indictment outlines the group's operations, which included target selection, phone scams, money laundering, and physical theft. Lam reportedly monitored the victims' iCloud data remotely and directed his associates to carry out the thefts. Records from August 2024 show that the group stole 4,100 bitcoins, worth $385.4 million at the time, through peer-to-peer scams.
Last September, ZachXBT revealed that individuals known as Greavys (Malone Lam), Wiz (Veer Chetal), and Box (Jeandiel Serrano) were involved in sophisticated social engineering attacks that resulted in the theft of $243 million from Genesis creditors on August 19, 2024.