FBI Clamps down on Two Members of Cybercrime Syndicate for Crypto Theft

By Kapil Gauhar

As indicated by the Chicago Sun-Times, the FBI suspects a Bloomington resident as well as another from Dolton as part of an online gaming cybercrime syndicate that has stolen over $3 million in cryptocurrency. The Bloomington resident told the Federal Agents that he saw the group online while playing “Call of Duty”, which is a popular first-person shooter game.

According to the FBI, the group stole around $805,000 in Augur Reputation Tokens. Beforehand, the San Francisco-based Augur registered a complaint with the Bureau alleging that hackers were targeting its investors and employees.

An FBI affidavit says the Bloomington-based suspect confessed to hacking over 100 phones which belong to the victims of the many cyber attacks. Upon completion of the crypto thefts, the FBI states the group had converted the stolen tokens into Bitcoin or Ether.

Talking to the Chicago Sun-Times, the Bloomington-based person told that he didn’t hack 100 phones and that the actual number was a lot lower. He also declared while speaking further –

“I have done nothing but cooperate with Augur and the FBI. I have never once profited from anyone [by] crypto-hacking, ever.”

The FBI also said that the Bloomington resident alleged that he was an unfortunate participant in the cryptocurrency theft. As indicated by the FBI, the Bloomington-based individual said he was threatened with being implicated in a violent crime that’s ongoing by the alleged ringleaders of the group.

Recently, Live Bitcoin News reported on the North Korean hacking syndicate “Lazarus” to be responsible for cryptocurrency thefts of more than $571 million in multiple cyber attacks. With this new prophecy, it seems that there are many online groups which are actively involved in coordinated crypto heists. Some officials in South Korea state that the group is responsible for many of the attacks against crypto exchanges within the country.