The 20-year-old committed what is arguably the most astonishing cryptocurrency theft ever:
• Stealing $230 million worth of Bitcoin
• Giving away Hermès bags worth tens of thousands of dollars to women
• Squander huge sums of money on private jets, Lamborghini, and up to $500,000 a night in clubbing
However, a screen recording by a Twitter online investigator eventually led to the revelation of the entire incident.
Here's the full story: 🧵
This is Malone Lam, 20 years old, who is extremely obsessed with cryptocurrency.
He is active on the Internet all year round, and keeps in touch with some netizens who are quick to think but have suspicious behaviours.
One day in 2024, while they were chatting, someone half-jokingly said, "Let's go scam a big crypto investor with money." "
Lin Malone didn't laugh. He replied directly: "Okay, that's it." "
From this moment on, things began to move towards reality......
They began to investigate.
They targeted an anonymous investor in Washington, D.C., who owned 4,100 bitcoins (worth $230 million at the time).
This is a very low-key person.
But the question is: how to steal such a huge amount of digital assets?
Lin Malone came up with a plan:
The whole scam process is surprisingly simple:
They start by calling and impersonating Google tech support: "Sir, your account may be under attack. "
A second call followed, this time posing as his cryptocurrency trading platform.
Why do I need to make two phone calls?
Here's why:
This is a classic "panic-mongering-helping" approach.
The first call caused the victim to be anxious, and the second call pretended to be a rescue.
Investors panicked and mistakenly thought they had been hacked.
They calmly assisted him in resetting his account.
Then they make a final request:
"Can you share your screen?"
Outcome:
The investor shared the screen, and the private keys to his crypto wallet were exposed.
It's like handing over the keys to a vault.
In just a few seconds, Lin Malone and his accomplices transferred 4,100 bitcoins, worth about $230 million at the price at the time.
So far, Lin Malone has become rich overnight......
They celebrated loudly in a group chat, and one of their friends recorded the whole thing:
"Oh my God! That's not true, is it? I can't control myself! "
And this recording became an important piece of evidence in the future......
[Original recording]. 👇🏻
They distribute the bitcoins, then transfer them to multiple wallets and try to clear the flow of funds.
The operation mode is a typical crypto mixing technique.
And Malone himself? did not choose to keep a low profile.
He began to spend high-profile money.
His behaviour seems to be completely modelled after the lifestyle of the movie The Wolf of Wall Street.
Here's his next move:
He first rented a seaside villa in Miami for a whopping $68,000 a month.
It's a small amount to him.
• This is followed by private jets
• Then there is luxury clothing
• After that, about 30 luxury cars were purchased, including a Lamborghini with his name spray-slaster
He frequents nightclubs......
In nightclubs, he spends as much as $100,000 to $500,000 a night, spending on:
• Female escort,
• Show off your pomp,
• and on premium champagnes.
He tipped staff members up to $2,000 at every turn.
His name is often lit up at the nightclub venue, as if a VIP has arrived.
The most surprising thing is his behaviour with luxury bags:
Lin Malone began giving away Hermès Birkin bags worth about $50,000 at random.
Are you pretty? He sent a bag directly.
One woman wakes up to find a Birkin next to her bed, and Lin Malone himself doesn't even remember when it was delivered.
He seems to think that money can be exchanged for emotion.
But as it turns out, it can't be so simple.
One woman explicitly rejected him......
Lin Malone, who bought a pink Lamborghini Urus for an old acquaintance, texted at 2 a.m. and said, "I have prepared a gift for you, I wish you a happy birthday in advance." "
The reply from the other party is as follows:
"I already have a boyfriend."
In this way, the pink Lamborghini, which was bought for $250,000, also failed to get any response from the other party.
At the same time, another figure has been silently following for a long time:
That person is none other than ZachXBT.
He is known as the Batman of the crypto circle.
He lost $15,000 in a scam years ago and has been on the lookout for crypto crimes ever since.
He now has a hobby in tracking crypto crimes and has over 860,000 followers on social media, known for his precision.
One day, he received a reminder:
There are large Bitcoin transfers on the blockchain......
ZachXBT immediately launched an investigation. He tracks the flow of funds and closely monitors every wallet address for changes.
Subsequently, he spotted Linmaron's traces on social media.
• Flying by private jet
• Showcase luxury cars
• High cost in nightclubs, costing $300,000 per night to open a bottle
ZachXBT thought: this man, either very smart...... Or completely stupid.
Then he obtained conclusive evidence.
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