Gaming Contacts Became a $245 Million Crypto Theft Ring, Leader Pleads Guilty

Malone Lam pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a racketeering conspiracy that drained more than $245 million in cryptocurrency.

The 22-year-old Singaporean citizen led a group that talked its way past people rather than past software. Prosecutors say the enterprise ran from October 2023 through at least May 2025.

Malone Lam Guilty Plea Caps a Two-Year Theft Spree

According to the court documents, Lam was the ringleader of the international cybercrime conspiracy. He organized the enterprise, identified the targets, and coordinated the roles of the other conspirators. Lam used the aliases “Anne Hathaway,” “$$$” and “King Greavy.”

The scheme was developed through connections made on online gaming platforms. Its members operated from California, Connecticut, New York, Florida, and abroad.

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🚨🇸🇬 Malone Lam pleads guilty over $245M Bitcoin social engineering heistThe 22-year-old Singaporean admitted his role in the operation that stole more than 4,100 BTC from a single Washington, D.C. victim in August 2024.Members of the group impersonated Google and Gemini… pic.twitter.com/zg91LDPsnw

— Dark Web Informer (@DarkWebInformer) September 8, 2026

The group used social engineering and occasionally broke into homes to obtain the information that let it drain victims’ wallets.

The case began with a September 2024 indictment over 4,100 Bitcoin (BTC) taken from a single Washington D.C. victim. Investigators later folded the theft into a wider $263 million ring. One launderer in that crew drew a 70-month prison sentence in April.

Stolen Assets Funded Jets, Exotic Cars, and Nightclub Tabs

The spending left an obvious trail. Nightclub bills reached $500,000 in a single evening, and watches ran past $500,000 apiece.

Conspirators also rented homes in Los Angeles, Miami, and the Hamptons. They hired private security teams, chartered jets, and bought exotic cars priced as high as $3.8 million.

US Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro framed the plea as a warning to imitators.

“If you build a cybercrime empire, we will find you, dismantle your operation, and hold you accountable. This defendant led an international network that preyed on victims through deception, invaded their privacy, and stole hundreds of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency,” she said.

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly accepted the plea to one RICO conspiracy count and set a status hearing for December 8. The case sharpens a point security researchers keep making. As violent crypto wrench attacks and social engineering scale up, a key weak link sits outside the wallet.

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