In a significant legal development, the U.S. Department of Justice is poised to recover millions in Bitcoin from a teenage hacker who absconded four years ago with crypto executives’ digital assets. The authorities are also honing in on the sports cars procured with these unlawfully acquired gains, aiming for their retrieval.
Ahmad Wagaafe Hared, the now-notorious figure behind the heist, has been ordered by a federal judge to surrender $5.2 million worth of Bitcoin that he absconded with back in 2016. This revelation was brought to light in a report from The San Francisco Standard. The stolen Bitcoin and the luxury car were part of a SIM-swapping scheme masterminded by Hared and two accomplices between 2016 and 2018.
SIM-swapping involves a hacker manipulating a cell phone carrier into surrendering control of a victim’s cell phone by impersonating the owner. Hackers employ a classic social engineering ploy to gain access to personal information for theft or bypass text-message-based second-factor authentication.
Bitcoin Heist, Harred-Ditman Scam Unveiled
Young Harred, hailing from Tucson, Arizona, allied with his partner-in-crime, Matthew Gene Ditman of Nevada, back in 2016. Their collaborative efforts involved manipulating customer support representatives at mobile service providers, enticing them to disclose crucial details regarding the SIM cards connected to cryptocurrency executives in northern California.
While the executives remain unnamed, the region is renowned for being home to Silicon Valley, housing a thriving ecosystem of cryptocurrency enterprises and startups. Coinbase, the largest exchange in the U.S., once called San Francisco its headquarters before transitioning to a fully remote operation.
Harred, operating under the alias ‘winblo’ in the darknet community, was identified by independent cybersecurity journalist Brian Krebs as an “extremely active” and “revered” participant in an online marketplace where high-value social media accounts were traded.
Employing a fraction of the unlawfully acquired cryptocurrency, Harred procured a BMW i8, estimated at around $150,000, as disclosed by Krebs. The prosecutors’ indictment further delineated that the duo reached out to certain victims post-account takeover, aiming to exert additional pressure for extortion.
In 2019, the operation faced its final reckoning, courtesy of a thorough FBI investigation that culminated in the identification and subsequent apprehension of both Harred and Ditman, as reported. The duo finds themselves in a legal quagmire, awaiting the impending sentencing phase.
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