U.S. DOJ charges hacker with stealing more than $5 million worth of cryptocurrency

The U.S. Department of Justice has accused a hacker of stealing more than $5 million worth of cryptocurrency

The hacker used part of the stolen funds to buy a BMW i8 car worth about $150,000.

The U.S. Department of Justice accused a young American and his accomplices of stealing cryptocurrencies from employees of companies in Silicon Valley, Decrypt reports citing court documents.

Hacker Ahmad Wagaafe Hared stole between 2016 (when he was 18 years old) and 2018 bitcoins (BTC) totaling $5.2 million. These funds are now trying to recover the agency, the publication says.

To steal cryptocurrencies, the fraudster used a SIM card swapping scheme (so-called SIM swapping). When using such a scheme, the criminal gains control of the victim's cell phone by pretending to own it. The indictment states that the hackers called some victims after they had gained control of their accounts in order to extort them again, the newspaper specifies.

Hared is known on the darknet under the name Winblo. For part of the stolen funds he bought a BMW i8 car worth about $150 thousand, the article notes.

In August, a stolen cryptocurrency for $20 million hacker from the United States received a prison sentence. The criminal deceived customer service and gained control over the SIM cards of future victims, after which he hacked cryptocurrency wallets.

In June this year, the US Justice Department accused two Russians of hacking into the Mt. Gox crypto exchange in 2011. Alexei Bilyuchenko, 43, and Alexander Werner, 29