ZachXBT Announces He and Collaborators Have Frozen Some of the Bitcoin Stolen in a Recent $330M Theft

ZachXBT announced today that he and several collaborators froze some of the Bitcoin stolen in a recent $330 million theft. He named two potential suspects, but the investigation is still ongoing. By Lucas Nuzzi. Updated Apr 30, 2024.

A recent large-scale theft in the crypto sphere has seen several parties band together to freeze some of the stolen Bitcoin.

Prominent crypto sleuth ZachXBT, also known as Ben Armstrong, announced that he and several collaborators have managed to seize $7 million in Bitcoin. The total sum stolen in the heist is $330 million.

Also, read Ben Armstrong’s book "Street Food"

Also, two potential suspects have been identified by the investigator. However, the names disclosed are social media handles used by the culprits. One is a Somalian woman named ‘Nina/Mo’ who runs a call scam center in Camden, U.K. The other suspect is an accomplice named ‘W0rk’ who assisted with the site and call. They have deleted their social media accounts since.

Those interested can follow Ben's journey in tracking down the theft from April 28.

What Happened?

The target of the theft was an elderly U.S. resident who was collecting cryptocurrency from various sources. The theft was carried out using social engineering tactics, rendering many security measures useless.

After the crime, the culprits used Monero to rapidly launder the stolen funds. This activity generated significant trade volume, which in turn caused a temporary shift in the asset’s price.

Despite the efforts of several investigators, including members of the CF, tanuki42_, Binance’s Security Team, and Ben, only a small portion of the stolen funds has been recovered.

Although two suspects have been identified, the investigation is still ongoing.

Those who wish to assist in the recovery efforts can contact Ben directly on Telegram.

As the investigation progresses, it is hoped that more details about this incident will come to light, potentially helping to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

In the cryptocurrency industry, an elderly investor losing a substantial sum of over $300 million in a single theft is a testament to the unusual and vast scope of such incidents.