Blockchain investigator ZachXBT revealed how three bad actors stole $243 million in crypto from a single Genesis creditor in August.
The attackers used advanced social engineering techniques to carry out a multi-step plan. They gained access to the victim’s personal and exchange accounts to execute the theft.
ZachXBT Helps Secure Arrests in $243 Million
ZachXBT identified the criminals as Greavys (Malone Iam), Wiz (Veer Chetal), and Box (Jeandiel Serrano). On August 19, they posed as Google Support using a fake phone number to contact the victim and then claimed to be Gemini representatives, telling the victim their account was compromised.
Through these tactics, they guided the victim to reset their two-factor authentication and move funds to a wallet they controlled. The criminals then persuaded the victim to use AnyDesk, a remote desktop app, which gave them access to the victim’s device. With this, they retrieved the victim’s private keys from Bitcoin Core.
Read more: Who Is ZachXBT, the Crypto Sleuth Exposing Scams?
ZachXBT’s investigation revealed that the thieves stole 4,064 BTC on August 19, around 4:05 A.M. UTC. The attackers split the $243 million among themselves, spreading the stolen funds across more than 15 exchanges.
They used multiple cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Litecoin (LTC), Ethereum (ETH), and Monero (XMR), to make the funds harder to trace. This strategy helped them cover their tracks.
ZachXBT revealed that Wiz, who received the largest portion of the stolen funds, accidentally exposed his full name during a screen-sharing session. This mistake allowed ZachXBT to uncover his identity. During the attack, accomplices also referred to Wiz as “Veer” in both audio recordings and chat messages. ZachXBT managed to trace nearly $34.5 million of Veer’s funds to an Ethereum wallet.
Read more: 15 Most Common Crypto Scams To Look Out For
Authorities arrested both Box and Greavys last evening in Miami and Los Angeles following ZachXBT’s report. Cryptoforensic Investigators, zeroShadow, and the Binance Security Team froze over $9 million of the stolen funds, and returned more than $500,000 to the victim.
“As a result of the investigation Box and Greavys were arrested yesterday evening in Miami and LA. I would expect law enforcement to seize additional funds during the arrests due to large transfers around that period,” ZachXBT reported.
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