The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has charged five individuals in connection with a crypto hacking scheme that allegedly stole $6.3 million in cryptocurrency and breached sensitive corporate data.

The charges, announced on Wednesday, stem from a multi-year phishing and hacking operation that targeted employees of major tech firms, telecommunication companies, and cryptocurrency platforms.

US DOJ Charges Five Hackers In $6.3M Crypto Hack

The DOJ identified the defendants as Ahmed Hossam Eldin Elbadawy, 23, of Texas; Noah Michael Urban, 20, of Florida; Evans Onyeaka Osiebo, 20, of Texas; Joel Martin Evans, 25, of North Carolina; and Tyler Robert Buchanan, 22, a UK citizen arrested in Spain earlier this year. All five have been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and related offenses.

According to prosecutors, the group used phishing text messages to steal employees’ credentials, enabling unauthorized access to corporate systems and cryptocurrency accounts. Buchanan faces additional charges of wire fraud, which carries a potential 20-year prison sentence.

The defendants are accused of targeting at least 45 companies in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and other nations between September 2021 and April 2023. The alleged scheme involved spoofing legitimate portals of companies such as Okta and compromising two-factor authentication to obtain sensitive information.

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