- Two suspects were arrested in a $243 million crypto heist involving sophisticated social engineering tactics.
- Investigators froze $9 million in stolen assets, recovering $500,000 for the victim.
In a major development, authorities arrested two individuals in connection with a $243 million heist. The alleged perpetrators attempted to launder thousands of Bitcoins [BTC] through mixing services.
Suspects involved
The U.S. Department of Justice revealed the incident in a statement released on the 19th of September.
Source: www.justice.gov
The theft was carried out by the three primary suspects, Greavys (Malone Iam), Wiz (Veer Chetal), and Box (Jeandiel Serrano). Blockchain investigator ZachXBT played a crucial role in unraveling it through blockchain forensics.
His investigation traced the stolen assets across various exchanges and cryptocurrencies, ultimately leading to the arrests of Box and Greavys.
So for those unaware, exactly a month ago on the 19th of August, a complex social engineering scam targeted a creditor of the now-defunct trading firm Genesis.
ZachXBT investigation details
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT uncovered details showing that the victim fell for a fraudulent call from a spoofed number and impersonated a Google support representative.
This highlights the increasing sophistication of scams in the crypto space.
Source: ZachXBT/X
Investigators identified Wiz by spotting a critical error made during a screen-sharing session, further exposed by audio recordings.
They discovered Greavys by monitoring his extravagant spending, which included luxury car purchases and lavish parties.
Meanwhile, Box was impersonating a Gemini representative and was linked to $18 million in stolen assets
What’s more to it?
ZachXBT tracked $3.5 million of the stolen funds to an Ethereum [ETH] address linked to Greavys.
He linked over $41 million in transactions across a network of ETH addresses associated with Box and Wiz, directing authorities to brokers of high-end goods.
Investigators tied the criminals to the illicit funds after they inadvertently revealed an address tied to luxury clothing purchases.
Source: ZachXBT
This information proved crucial for the investigation led by CFInvestigators, zeroshadow, ZachXBT, and Binance Security, who collectively froze over $9 million in assets.
Out of the frozen amount, authorities successfully recovered approximately $500,000 and returned it to the victim.
Other related attacks
Hackers recently breached the Indonesian cryptocurrency exchange Indodax and stole around $20.5 million in digital assets.
They targeted the exchange’s hot wallets, which handle daily transactions and are more vulnerable to cyber threats.
Among the stolen assets, they took 9 billion Shiba Inu [SHIB] tokens, reflecting a deliberate choice to target popular cryptocurrencies.
Other stolen assets included substantial amounts of Chainlink [LINK], Tron [TRX], Ethereum, and BTC.
Hence, as investigations continue and new threats emerge, stakeholders must remain vigilant in protecting their assets and navigating this evolving landscape.
