Cyber Crime Goes Offline: Man Robbed of His Hardware Ethereum Wallet Containing $1.8 Million
TechnologyBit News Today1 min read
Thirty-five-year-old Louis Meza faces multiple charges for his alleged role in the robbery, including grand larceny, kidnapping, burglary, criminal possession of stolen property, computer tampering, computer trespassing, and criminal use of a firearm. Among the counts against him are first-degree grand larceny, second-degree kidnapping, first-degree robbery, and first-degree criminal use of a firearm, along with computer trespass and other lesser offenses. Meza was arrested and had his charges filed in the New York State Supreme Court.
According to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, on November 4, Meza who had previously met with the victim at his apartment, knowing they possessed ether holdings, arranged for a car service for the victim after that meeting. Following the encounter, Meza allegedly traveled to the victim's residence to steal the cryptocurrency, according to the district attorney's office.
The prosecutor's office stated that security camera footage from the victim's building showed Meza using stolen keys to enter the apartment and exiting with a box thought to contain the digital wallet. Further documentation indicated that shortly after taking the digital wallet, Meza shifted around $1.8 million in Ether to his private account.
The district attorney's office did not detail the format of the victim's wallet, which may have been a physical drive or written keys used to access an online wallet.
Following the theft of the cryptocurrency, the victim managed to break away from his captor and contact emergency services. The DA says the case “demonstrates the increasingly common intersection between cyber and violent crime” and warned, “we can expect this type of crime to become increasingly common as cryptocurrency values surge upward.”
Gizmodo reported that investigators are still trying to determine the identity of the minivan's driver.
