The US Department of Justice has made allegations against a hacker for the theft of over $5 million worth of cryptocurrency.
According to Decrypt, court documents reveal that the hacker, Ahmad Wagaafe Hared, and his accomplices are accused of stealing cryptocurrencies from employees of Silicon Valley companies.
Hared, also known as Winblo on the darknet, employed a SIM card substitution scheme, commonly known as SIM swapping, to gain control of victims’ mobile phones.
By pretending to be the owners, the hackers extorted funds and made off with bitcoins worth $5.2 million between 2016 and 2018.
The US Department of Justice is currently working to recover these stolen funds. It is worth noting that Hared used a portion of the stolen funds to purchase a BMW i8 car valued at approximately $150,000.
In recent months, there have been other cases of hackers targeting cryptocurrency holders, highlighting the importance of robust security measures in the digital asset space.