They pulled off one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts in history, duping a stranger out of bitcoin worth over $240 million. And then the party started. The scammers — a network of young men in their late teens or early 20s — celebrated the August 2024 heist by embarking on a wild spending spree.
They purchased fleets of sports cars, flew on private jets, hired security guards and rented mansions in Miami and the Hamptons. An alleged ringleader, 22-year-old Malone Lam, spent over $569,000 in one evening at a Los Angeles night club. Their bender lasted a month before FBI agents arrested Lam on charges that he organized a "social engineering" attack on the Washington, D.C., resident.
Lam, an eighth-grade dropout from Singapore, has a plea agreement hearing set for Tuesday. His conviction would be a capstone for the government's investigation. The charges against Lam and 17 others are an extreme example of an increasingly common form of cybercrime.
Complaints of cryptocurrency investment fraud to the FBI rose by nearly 50% in 2025, while Republican President Donald Trump's administration largely abandoned a regulatory crackdown on the volatile industry. Last year, the Justice Department disbanded a unit dedicated to prosecuting crypto-related crimes. Meanwhile, crypto companies that complained of unfair treatment during Democratic President Joe Biden's presidency are enjoying the government's hands-off approach under Trump, who took in roughly $1.2 billion from his crypto businesses in 2025.
Cybersecurity researcher Allison Nixon, who has spent years tracking The Com, an underground subculture of young hackers united by the “insane amount of money” that crypto fraud can generate, advocates for more law enforcement resources to go after them. A man identified as “Victim 7” in court filings was at home in Washington on Aug. 18, 2024, when his phone rang. The first caller identified himself as a Google representative inquiring about attempts to breach his account.
A second, claiming to be from the Gemini crypto exchange, warned the man of a malware attack affecting his crypto wallet. The callers manipulated the man into giving them access to his Google Drive and revealing security codes that allowed Lam to siphon off over 4,100 bitcoin, according to prosecutors. They said Lam and his friends on the calls — Veer Chetal and Jeandiel Serrano — targeted the man because he was a wealthy, longtime crypto investor.
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