A Moroccan man has been charged with four counts related to a plot to steal $500,000 worth of cryptocurrencies and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) from US victims.
Soufiane Oulahyane, 25, is suspected of running a phishing website masquerading as the NFT marketplace OpenSea to gain access to victims’ cryptocurrency wallets and steal money and NFTs.
Read more about the NFT threat: NFT fraud in the UK to surge 400% in 2021
Around September 2021, Oulahyane used paid advertising to make his phishing website appear first in search results for “OpenSea.” Believing they were interacting with the real thing, victims accessed the similar site as usual and entered their login information, which was sent directly to Oulahyane, according to the Department of Justice (DoJ).
A Manhattan-based victim did just that on September 26, 2021, entering a seed phrase for a cryptocurrency wallet that eventually ended up in Oulahyane’s hands.
Almost immediately, he used that seed phrase to gain unauthorized access to the victim’s cryptocurrency wallet, transferred the funds to another wallet under his control, and transferred dozens of the victim’s NFTs to OpenSea. Sold on the marketplace.
He is said to have earned a total of $448,923 from stolen cryptocurrencies and NFTs.
Urahyan has been charged with wire fraud, using an unauthorized access device, influencing a transaction with an access device to receive anything of value over $1,000, and aggravated identity theft. Together, these carry a maximum sentence of 47 years in prison.
In another case reported by Information security In February 2022, anonymous attackers were able to make over $2 million in Ethereum after sending phishing emails to OpenSea customers, stealing and selling NFTs.
These emails were sent in conjunction with an OpenSea article on upcoming contract upgrades.
It is unclear who is behind the campaign, but Urahane is currently in custody in Morocco on separate charges, the Justice Department said.
Editorial image credit: Diego Thomazini / Shutterstock.com
