The Justice Department charges $12 more 12 times in $263 million in crypto fraud
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) heats up heat on a transnational cryptocurrency fraud ring, which allegedly tilted a quarter of a billion dollars from victims around the world.
The total number of defendants in the case reached 27 under the allegations filed in the Racket Affected and Corruptible Organization Act (RICO).
The center of the investigation is Malone Lam, 20, accused of plotting one of the largest personal cryptocurrency theft in U.S. history — allegedly stealing more than 4,100 bitcoins (worth about $230 million) from a victim in Washington, D.C.
As we described last year, Lam operates on a variety of internet controllers including “Anne Hathaway” and “$$$” – allegedly working with Jeandiel Serrano (also known as “Versacegod”) to launch a sophisticated social engineering attack on a very rich early cryptocurrency investor.
Lam and Serrano are said to have contacted the man by phone, impersonating Google support staff after bombing the victim’s alarm warning for an unauthorized login attempt with a fake Google security alert. According to investigators, they tricked the victim into sharing a multi-factor authentication code, allowing them to access his account and steal wealth in cryptocurrency.
After the theft, Lam and Serrano allegedly laundered the stolen funds in a variety of ways and used their wealth to fund a luxury lifestyle.
For example, Lin is said to have purchased at least 31 luxury cars, including custom Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche, Mercedes G-van, Rolls-Royce and McLaren – some of which are worth more than $3 million. He also rented multiple high-end properties in Los Angeles and Miami, some of which sold for as much as $68,000 a month, spending hundreds of thousands on nightclub outings.
Now, the Justice Department has announced further defendants related to the blackmail plot. According to court documents, the defendant encountered different roles through the online gaming platform, including database hackers, organizers, target identifiers, callers, money launderers and thieves, who actually broke into the victim’s home to steal hardware cryptocurrency wallets.
One of the defendants was Joel Cortes, 21, of Laguna Niguel, California, described in court documents as “changing the stolen virtual currency into Fiat currency and shipping the currency throughout the United States, hidden in squishmallow-filled animals, about $25,000 each.”
Other members of the gang allegedly followed the same pattern as Lam when they draw attention – buying nightclub services up to $500,000 a night, with tens of thousands of dollars worth of luxury handbags to offer to young women and private jet renters they find attractive.
Even after his arrest in September 2024, Lin allegedly continued to work with the gang to help them steal cryptocurrencies and get his fellow accomplices to buy luxury Hermes Birkin handbags in Miami, Florida.
This case is a clear reminder of the growth between cyber fraud and human psychology. While encryption may be new, scams are as old as time – gain trust, play long games and walk away with loot.
If your relative is still chatting with a “financial advisor” on WhatsApp, or introduced by Crypto “Mentors” on LinkedIn, now may be a good time to revisit the home cybersecurity conversation.
If convicted, the defendants may consider swapping their flashy luxury and bust lifestyle for a completely different destination: years of prison cells.
