Going from playing Call of Duty (COD) to committing cryptocurrency theft might seem like quite a leap, but allegedly not for a group of gamers who are suspected of stealing up to $3 million in crypto.
The Chicago Times has reported via documents released in an FBI affidavit that an unnamed man from Chicago, Illinois, was coerced by a gang of Call of Duty online players from Indiana to hack computers to steal cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrency Theft from Indiana to Illinois
Although no names have been released at this moment due to the strange circumstances of the case, an Illinois man is claimed to have made friends with a group of Call of Duty players online that led to cryptocurrency theft of the highest order.
The Illinois man told the FBI that he was forced by the COD hacking gang to participate in a crypto scam. He claims the gang used intimidation tactics such as “SWATting” to make him participate. For those who don’t know, “SWATting” is a term for calling the police to make a false report on a house in regards to violent crime, prompting a SWAT team visit on the home.
Members allegedly gave the man names and phone numbers and other bits of info that would help him to hack the cell phones of the targets. The group would then take control over the phones and hack into the owner’s accounts to access their crypto wallets and steal their digital currencies. According to the FBI affidavit, the Illinois man had admitted doing this to over 100 phones.
Accusations of $3.3 Million Crypto Theft
The Chicago Times has not named any of the suspects that appeared in the FBI affidavit as they do not appear to have been officially charged at this moment in time. However, the gang is accused of cryptocurrency theft to the tune of $3.3 million in varying cryptocurrencies and also in over $800,000 worth of Reputation Tokens
The COD gang then allegedly moved the stolen digital assets to their own crypto wallets via a variety of cryptocurrency networks using bitcoin and ether. The FBI affidavit shows that the authorities raided the Illinois man’s home on August 1. However, he was initially interviewed by the FBI as far back as March 2017.
