Crypto Thief Busted: DOJ Files Charges Against 25-Year-Old For OpenSea NFT Heist

1 year ago

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) announced connected July 10 the unsealing of a four-count indictment against Soufiane Oulahyane for a strategy to impersonate the OpenSea marketplace to get unauthorized entree to cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Oulahyane, presently successful custody successful Morocco for overseas charges, allegedly has stolen astir $450,000 worthy of cryptocurrency and NFTs.

OpenSea NFT Theft

According to the indictment filed by the US Department of Justice, Soufiane Oulahyane, the alleged hacker who stole $450,000 worthy of cryptocurrency NFTs from a unfortunate successful Manhattan, sold respective NFTs that belonged to the victim.

The NFTs sold by Oulahyane included pieces from fashionable bid similar “Bored Ape Yacht Club,” “Meebit,” “Bored Ape Kennel Club,” and “CryptoDad.”

Per the property release, Oulahyane allegedly utilized a strategy to “spoof” the login leafage to the OpenSea marketplace by creating a fake website that looked similar the existent one. He utilized paid advertisements connected a fashionable hunt motor to nonstop users to his fake website, wherever helium tricked them into entering their login credentials oregon different backstage information.

The accusation was automatically sent to an email relationship controlled by Oulahyane, who utilized it to summation unauthorized entree to the victims’ cryptocurrency wallets.

Oulahyane is charged with ligament fraud, usage of an unauthorized entree device, affecting transactions with an entree instrumentality to person thing of worth adjacent to oregon greater than $1,000, and aggravated individuality theft.

If convicted, Oulahyane could look up to 20 years successful situation for ligament fraud, 10 years for utilizing an unauthorized entree device, 15 years for affecting transactions with an entree device, and a mandatory consecutive condemnation of 2 years for aggravated individuality theft.

Moreover, according to the property release, the DOJ emphasizes that integer assets, specified arsenic cryptocurrency and NFTs, are not immune from cyber fraudsters.

The charges against Oulahyane service arsenic a reminder that cybercrime techniques specified arsenic “spoofing” are inactive successful usage and tin beryllium adapted for usage successful the cryptocurrency space. The DOJ is committed to prosecuting these fraudsters successful the US and abroad.

This indictment shows that instrumentality enforcement agencies are taking cybercrime successful the cryptocurrency abstraction earnestly and are prepared to prosecute individuals who prosecute successful fraudulent activities. It is indispensable for users to workout caution erstwhile dealing with integer assets and to instrumentality indispensable information measures to support their cryptocurrency wallets and NFTs from cyber criminals.