Pierluigi Paganini
November 21, 2024
The U.S. Justice Department charged five alleged members of the cybercrime gang Scattered Spider (also known as UNC3944, 0ktapus) with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
“Law enforcement today unsealed criminal charges against five defendants who allegedly targeted employees of companies nationwide with phishing text messages and then used the harvested employee credentials to log in and steal non-public company data and information and to hack into virtual currency accounts to steal millions of dollars in cryptocurrency.” reads the press release published by DoJ.
The five defendants are Tyler Buchanan, 22, from Scotland; Ahmed Elbadawy, 23, from College Station, Texas; Joel Evans, 25, from Jacksonville, NC; Evans Osiebo, 20, from Dallas; and Noah Urban, 20, from Palm Coast, Florida. Each faces two conspiracy counts and aggravated identity theft charges. Buchanan additionally faces a wire fraud charge.
The cybercrime group Scattered Spider is suspected of hacking into hundreds of organizations over the past two years, including Twilio, LastPass, DoorDash, and Mailchimp.
Scattered Spider members are part of a broader cybercriminal community called “The Com,” where hackers brag about high-profile cyber thefts, typically initiated through social engineering tactics like phone, email, or SMS scams to gain access to corporate networks.
Between September 2021 and April 2023, the hackers carried out phishing attacks to steal login credentials from employees of 12 companies and individuals. Victims included gaming, telecom, and cryptocurrency firms, with losses reaching millions in stolen cryptocurrency and data from hundreds of thousands of accounts.
Hackers in their teens and 20s allegedly carried out phishing attacks via fake text messages to steal login credentials from employees of 12 companies and individuals. Victims included gaming, telecom, and cryptocurrency firms, with losses reaching millions in stolen cryptocurrency and data from hundreds of thousands of accounts.
Scattered Spider used phishing and smishing attacks to trick employees to provide their credentials. They impersonated help desk technicians, sent the victims fake VPN deactivation warnings, and used password reset scams to gain access to company systems. Then the hackers used stolen credentials to steal and exfiltrate sensitive data and conduct SIM swap attacks to control victims’ phone numbers and siphon cryptocurrency wallets, stealing millions.
“We allege that this group of cybercriminals perpetrated a sophisticated scheme to steal intellectual property and proprietary information worth tens of millions of dollars and steal personal information belonging to hundreds of thousands of individuals,” said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. “As this case shows, phishing and hacking has become increasingly sophisticated and can result in enormous losses. If something about the text or email you received or website you’re viewing seems off, it probably is.”
If convicted, each defendant could face up to 20 years for wire fraud conspiracy, five years for another conspiracy charge, and two mandatory years for identity theft. Tyler Buchanan faces an additional 20 years for wire fraud.
In July, law enforcement in the U.K. arrested a 17-year-old teenager from Walsall who is suspected to be a member of the Scattered Spider cybercrime group (also known as UNC3944, 0ktapus).
The arrest is the result of a joint international law enforcement operation carried out by the U.K. National Crime Agency (NCA) and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
The 17-year-old boy was arrested in connection with the global cyber online crime group, Scattered Spider, which has been targeting large organizations with ransomware and gaining access to computer networks.
The suspect was arrested on suspicion of Blackmail and Computer Misuse Act offenses and released on bail. The police was able to recover evidence, including digital devices, for forensic examination. The arrest is part of a global investigation into a large-scale cyber hacking community, which has targeted major companies, including MGM Resorts in America.
In January 2024, U.S. authorities arrested Noah Michael Urban, a 19-year-old from Palm Coast, Florida, suspected of being a member of the Scattered Spider cybercriminal group. He is accused of stealing at least $800,000 from five victims between August 2022 and March 2023. Urban, known online as “Sosa” and “King Bob,” is linked to the same group that hacked Twilio and other companies in 2022.
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