Young cybercriminals go to prison after stealing NFTS and cryptocurrency Elaborate scams using accounts hijacked on X (formally Twitter).
Canadian citizen Cameron Albert Redman, 22, was sentenced to one year in prison on Tuesday for conspiracy to commit fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
US officials said Wednesday that in 2022, Redman and his co-conspirators contemplated more than 200 victims and pocketed $794,000 in a scam in which they used the digital artist’s hacked social media accounts to post links to copycat websites similar to the websites of well-known creators and brands.
After seizing control of the famous X account, Redman and his allies launched a fake raffle promotion and convinced investors to click on the link to allow the transaction.
Screenshots from court filings suggest that hijacked accounts include accounts of creators like Mike “Beeple” Winkelmann and Gary Weinerchuk, as well as creators like noun projects and luxury brand Louis Vuitton.
“The victims thought they were allowing digital wallets to trade to receive NFTs, but the conspirators unconsciously made it possible to remove cryptocurrency and NFTs from their wallets,” the Feds said in a statement.
An NFT (or inappropriate token) is a blockchain token linked to digital media such as artwork, music, video game assets, and physical items such as products and real estate. Products exploded in value in the bull market in 2021, but demand for NFTs fell sharply until 2022. Interest continues to grow from that initial enthusiasm, but there have been signs of life in the NFT market recently.
Court documents I said The Redman was an intelligent cybercriminal who had already gone to prison for stealing more than $40 million in code in a SIM swapping attack.
“The defendant has established himself as a sophisticated, successful, and repeatedly cybercriminal,” court documents read.
“A year is an important sentence for the juvenile, but it seemed to have no deterrent effect,” they added. “With at least a year after his release, the defendant has found, and has found, in his father’s basement, looking for a new way to benefit from the crime.”