Massive $243 million crypto heist ends with multiple arrests and asset frozen
According to blockchain sleuth ZachXBT, hackers used social engineering to trick a Genesis creditor.
Key Takeaways
- Hackers stole $243 million in crypto through a sophisticated social engineering attack on a single Genesis creditor.
- Multiple arrests were made and millions in assets were frozen as a result of the investigation.
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Hackers stole $243 million in crypto from a single Genesis creditor through a sophisticated social engineering attack on August 19, as reported by ZachXBT. The blockchain sleuth revealed that two of three main bad actors were arrested and millions of dollars were frozen.
The attackers, identified as Greavys, Wiz, and Box, executed the heist by posing as Google and Gemini support, claiming that the victim’s account on the crypto exchange was hacked. The attackers’ real names are Malone Iam, Veer Chetal, and Jeandiel Serrano respectively.
As a result, they manipulated the victim into resetting the two-factor authentication (2FA) and transferring its funds from Gemini to a compromised wallet. Additionally, they tricked the victim into sharing its screen and leaking its Bitcoin (BTC) wallet’s private keys.
The Gemini account compromise granted 74.22 BTC to the attackers, while the Bitcoin wallet breach resulted in 4,064 BTC stolen, equivalent to nearly $238 million.
ZachXBT revealed that the stolen funds were quickly split on over 15 exchanges through transactions using Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, and Monero. Wiz reportedly received a large percentage of the theft, with $34.5 million linked to his address, with a fourth actor helping him launder the funds.
Greavys allegedly spent the stolen funds lavishly, purchasing multiple cars and spending up to $500,000 per night at clubs in Los Angeles and Miami. Box, who posed as a Gemini exchange representative during the heist, has $18 million tied to his address.
“With the assistance of @CFInvestigators, @zeroshadow_io and the Binance Security Team more than $9M+ has been frozen and $500K+ has already been returned back after working closely with the victim to investigate the incident,” ZachXBT stated.
As a result of the investigation, Box and Greavys were arrested in Miami and Los Angeles, respectively. ZachXBT added that law enforcement is expected to have seized additional funds during the arrests, given large transactions registered on-chain after the arrests.
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