The creativity of cryptocurrency fraudsters is reaching new heights, making cryptocurrency theft an increasingly common phenomenon. A daring crime took place in Scottsdale, Arizona, in which a man impersonating an Uber driver stole cryptocurrencies worth USD 300,000 from his passengers! As the popularity of cryptocurrencies increases, so do creative cases
Cryptocurrency theft in Uber
Between March and October 2024, Nuruhussein Hussein, posing as an Uber driver, lured passengers waiting outside a hotel in Scottsdale. The criminal used their names to gain trust and then manipulated them by asking to borrow their phone due to a “failure” of their own device. Sometimes he also offered to help them fix an app bug just to get their hands on their smartphones.
After gaining access to the passengers’ phones, Hussein conducted transactions from their Coinbase accounts, transferring cryptocurrencies to his cold wallets. The victim of the theft, thanks to which the entire procedure was revealed, protested during the crime, but the cryptocurrency thief intimidated him with threats.
Investigation and arrest for cryptocurrency theft
The hat goes off to the Uber thief, as two months of investigation were enough for Hussein to be arrested on December 11 by Scottsdale detectives and Secret Service agents. He was charged with theft, fraud and money laundering. The prosecutor’s office obtained bail for him in the amount of USD 200,000 and electronic monitoring. Hussein was also banned from using the internet and traveling abroad due to the risk of destroying evidence or fleeing to Ethiopia, where he frequently traveled.
Offline cryptocurrency theft – a global trend?
The incident in Arizona is just one of many cases of increasingly common offline cryptocurrency thefts. Why offline? Because in the case of cryptocurrency theft “for Uber”, the crime takes place in real life, not online. Such criminals very cleverly combine knowledge about cryptocurrencies with social engineering, i.e. ways to manipulate other people.
According to GitHub, 19 such incidents have already been reported around the world in 2024. In one of the recent incidents in Melbourne, thieves drove a car into the window of a shopping center and stole a Bitcoin ATM. Police later found the damaged device in the park.
Caution and cold wallet – a way to deal with offline scammers
The theft of cryptocurrencies “for an Uber driver” is proof that fraudsters are constantly developing their methods to take advantage of victims’ inattention and trust. Users should be especially vigilant, especially in situations where someone asks for access to their devices. Protection against this type of crime requires not only appropriate technological security (cold wallet instead of keeping coins on the exchange), but also common sense and risk awareness. Cryptocurrencies, although they offer new financial opportunities, also attract those who want to get rich at the expense of others.
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