Teen Hacker Ordered To Return $5.2M In Bitcoin, Seized Sports Car By Federal Judge

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has taken legal action to reclaim millions of dollars in Bitcoin BTC/USD from a teenage hacker who stole the cryptocurrency from crypto executives four years ago.

What Happened: According to reports from The San Francisco Standard, a federal judge recently approved an order requiring Ahmad Wagaafe Hared to surrender $5.2 million worth of Bitcoin that he had stolen in 2016.

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The stolen Bitcoin, along with the car, were obtained as part of a SIM-swapping scheme orchestrated by Hared and two co-conspirators between 2016 and 2018.

SIM swapping is a process in which hackers deceive a cell phone carrier to gain control of a target’s phone number. By posing as the owner, they trick customer support representatives into transferring the SIM card to a device they control, enabling them to access personal data and bypass security measures to carry out fraudulent activities.

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Why It Matters: At the age of 18, Hared, who resided in Tucson, Arizona at the time, collaborated with Matthew Gene Ditman, a co-conspirator from Nevada. Together, they allegedly tricked customer support representatives of cell phone providers into revealing details about SIM cards assigned to cryptocurrency executives’ accounts in northern California.

While the executives remain unnamed, the region is home to Silicon Valley and numerous cryptocurrency companies and start-ups. Coinbase, the largest U.S.-based exchange, was once headquartered in San Francisco before transitioning to a fully remote company.

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