22-year-old guy teamed up with friends to steal $245M in BTC

[Ziskinberg]

Malone Lam, a 22-year-old from Singapore, pleaded guilty to stealing $245 million worth of Bitcoin from a Washington resident. The incident occurred two years ago: his accomplices, posing as employees of Google and Gemini, tricked the victim into granting access to their Google Drive and stole 4,100 Bitcoin.
Lam then laundered the stolen funds, spending millions in a single month on thirty sports cars, mansions, and nightclubs.
Today he pleaded guilty, and now he faces up to twenty years in prison.
snip

What a foolish way to get arrested. Why would he spend millions of dollars in a single month ?
Looks like he knew all along that he will get arrested soon and thought to spend the money lavishly while it lasts.
So many watches and sports cars for what ? Not as if he was gonna drive all of them daily.

With the huge amount of bitcoin he has stolen, I'm sure he was already expecting that he'll be in jailed in the future. So instead of trying to handle his stolen funds wisely, he does it on his own desires and wants. And eventually get the attention of the authorities and investigate him.

I don't want to blame the owner, but I don't think he is making his best to protect his bitcoin, or he is just not well knowledgeable on the kind of investment he entered, and just confidently store bitcoin on his online account. He could have saved all of those if he is highly responsible as an investor first and foremost.

[HelliumZ]

The victim should have kept in mind that he had 4100 Bitcoins and how he thought it was safe by keeping it only in Google Drive. Moreover, I will hold him accountable for several things because how he contacted a scam community and gave him access to a wallet containing 4100 Bitcoins.
Why did the person who had 4100 Bitcoins not feel the need to buy a hardware wallet and why did he save it on his hard drive and Google Drive or why did he contact a fake community and give him access to the wallet?

[Sandra_hakeem]

I'm kind of confused about why he had his Bitcoin stored on Google Drive. How and why would anyone store the keys to such a large amount of Bitcoin on Google Drive? Honestly, I feel the victim was partly responsible for what happened because it was unreasonable to keep such sensitive information that way.I don't understand why it's so difficult for people to simply write down their keys on paper and store them somewhere safe. He could have also bought a hardware wallet and kept his coins completely offline. Instead, he left the keys on his Google Drive, on a PC that he regularly uses online. It's really unfortunate, but I can't feel too sorry for him. Sometimes, people have to learn the hard way so they don't make the same mistakes again.

Why doesn’t it bother you that he gave access to his storage? Especially since the request itself seemed to come from a "Google" representative. Why is he so naive, anyway? For example, I always have other questions. How can someone be so dumb yet still have such a large sum in their wallet? It’s baffling. Clearly, whoever decides who gets to be rich has overlooked something here. No wonder they say that being rich is a test in itself.

One thing i always try not to do is blame the victim, but that only happens when there's literally no reason to blame them. It's a huge sum and I feel bad for him, but this is just stupid to think of and I'm sorry, I can't ignore that. Sometimes, I'm stuck between getting mad and speaking in cursive at a newsfeed like this, or just minding my business.

This is one reason why I always advocate for people to understand decentralization, how it works and if they can live with it or not before they consider buying and holding Btc. The sentence is 20 years? Wait till the defendant's lawyer pleeds for pardon. Unrelated:^{[Like what we are seeing in the lindsay clancy case]}

[Sanitough]

I guess the owner must have learned his lesson the hardest way, by losing all of them in just a blink of an eye because of low security and privacy, or let's say the owner's privacy is not really protected in the first place since everything that is operated or saved online will vanish all of a sudden.

However, they say it pays to be smart but hackers and scammers will find ways to be smarter than us. And this is why saving all your bitcoins offline will give you the best protection. That way, you won't no longer worry that someone will try to access your account online. Just focus on keeping your private keys safe or protect yourself from bad guys around as they might also be targeting your bitcoin if you give hints to them that you own a lot of bitcoin.

[Davidvictorson]

Malone Lam, a 22-year-old from Singapore, pleaded guilty to stealing $245 million worth of Bitcoin from a Washington resident. The incident occurred two years ago: his accomplices, posing as employees of Google and Gemini, tricked the victim into granting access to their Google Drive and stole 4,100 Bitcoin.
Lam then laundered the stolen funds, spending millions in a single month on thirty sports cars, mansions, and nightclubs.
Today he pleaded guilty, and now he faces up to twenty years in prison.

Interestingly we continue to see folks who engage in these types of criminal activity thinking that they can’t or won’t be caught because they believe that they are some kind of outliers.
In my whole life as a person interacting with the world, I have learned that if you continue in your criminal way of life, it will eventually catch up to you no matter how long.
Now to the story, I don’t know the age of the victim but I am guessing that they may be an older adult who is probably lonely. Lesson here is that no matter your age, don’t trust verify.

[Taskford]

The victim should have kept in mind that he had 4100 Bitcoins and how he thought it was safe by keeping it only in Google Drive. Moreover, I will hold him accountable for several things because how he contacted a scam community and gave him access to a wallet containing 4100 Bitcoins.
Why did the person who had 4100 Bitcoins not feel the need to buy a hardware wallet and why did he save it on his hard drive and Google Drive or why did he contact a fake community and give him access to the wallet?

His overconfidence put him in that position and now, he's suffering from  large hacking issue.

I don't know what came unto his mind for not grabbing a hardware wallet storing such huge amount of funds. Also crazy that he entertained those people and now that's the cost of all of the mistakes he made.

For sure now, he think about acquiring a hardware wallet is better for him and don't trust anyone in internet. This is hard lesson which he need to deal on.

[BABY SHOES]

Previously heard this story about a man from Singapore who managed to steal a large amount of Bitcoin.

Even ZachXBT has revealed in 2024 on its X about the flow of these funds to anywhere, until some evidence has been displayed.
[1] https://x.com/zachxbt/status/1836752923830702392
The court has now demanded 20 years in prison, and it is already legitimate, then the news reappears.

It's worth it for them.

[RGBTC]

For sure now, he think about acquiring a hardware wallet is better for him and don't trust anyone in internet. This is hard lesson which he need to deal on.

People really need to be aware of their surroundings; a hardware wallet isn't secure enough if you live in France. I don't know what to do if someone is already known as a Bitcoin enthusiast, but what we can do from the start is avoid drawing attention to ourselves and not trust anyone; whether online, in the real world, or even within our own families. It’s not necessarily that they intend to steal from us, but if they frequently interact with others in the community, they might inadvertently share details about us.

[Dave1]

For sure now, he think about acquiring a hardware wallet is better for him and don't trust anyone in internet. This is hard lesson which he need to deal on.

People really need to be aware of their surroundings; a hardware wallet isn't secure enough if you live in France. I don't know what to do if someone is already known as a Bitcoin enthusiast, but what we can do from the start is avoid drawing attention to ourselves and not trust anyone; whether online, in the real world, or even within our own families. It’s not necessarily that they intend to steal from us, but if they frequently interact with others in the community, they might inadvertently share details about us.

We are in a dangerous world, specially today with so many breaches with hardware wallets and even exchanges. So we should really be aware of our surrounding, or maybe have camera around and outside of your house to monitor everything.

Or put a safety box in your house but you should hide it and not exposed it to anyone. You should be the only one who had access to it. Others, might go and put it into a box's security deposit for added measures.

[shinratensei_]

Saw the news on another forum. I just have one question. How can these people sleep at night? After causing so much trouble to someone who has trust issues. Yes, I will say trust issues because he trusted these two people who were impersonating, but it is also not only the victim's mistake. Anyone could fall for it. Just be careful when you are holding a fortune like this.

You'd be surprised at how many people out there who simply have no conscience, they will steal and they will sleep at night just like any other night, 20 years isn't enough punishment for these kind of people. This heist is not his first, the Prosecutor said that Malone Lam has been doing the same social engineering attack for months already, if he got out easy, he'd definitely do it again. The guy literally has been making millions from various crypto scams before the big heist that land him $245M and got arrested not too long after. That's dozens of people's lifesaving gone to the drain only for this guy to blew the money off on booze and hermes.

[Dogedegen]

Malone Lam, a 22-year-old from Singapore, pleaded guilty to stealing $245 million worth of Bitcoin from a Washington resident. The incident occurred two years ago: his accomplices, posing as employees of Google and Gemini, tricked the victim into granting access to their Google Drive and stole 4,100 Bitcoin.
Lam then laundered the stolen funds, spending millions in a single month on thirty sports cars, mansions, and nightclubs.
Today he pleaded guilty, and now he faces up to twenty years in prison.

Crime does not pay, it leads to a terrible and fearful life where the person can never rest and never has enough. This explains their behavior of always buying more, consuming more, and never feeling happy or satisfied because they are trying to fill a hole with things that do not work for that sort of thing. A big punishment is important because it should serve as a deterrent and lesson for the future young, so that they do not get any false ideas from stories or online perceptions that such a life is worth living. This youth has ruined his whole life for nothing..

I hope that most of the money can be quickly restored to the right owner, and also that the owner uses this as a lesson to not store their coins this way and to not fall for phishing scams. It is really not that hard to not fall for phishing..

His overconfidence put him in that position and now, he's suffering from  large hacking issue.

I don't know what came unto his mind for not grabbing a hardware wallet storing such huge amount of funds. Also crazy that he entertained those people and now that's the cost of all of the mistakes he made.

For sure now, he think about acquiring a hardware wallet is better for him and don't trust anyone in internet. This is hard lesson which he need to deal on.

Improperly storing a lot of value is not overconfidence, that would be if he was taunting hackers or something. In this case it is probably just a lack of education, unfortunately there are still many people that store coins the wrong way.

You'd be surprised at how many people out there who simply have no conscience, they will steal and they will sleep at night just like any other night, 20 years isn't enough punishment for these kind of people. This heist is not his first, the Prosecutor said that Malone Lam has been doing the same social engineering attack for months already, if he got out easy, he'd definitely do it again. The guy literally has been making millions from various crypto scams before the big heist that land him $245M and got arrested not too long after. That's dozens of people's lifesaving gone to the drain only for this guy to blew the money off on booze and hermes.

A person might not have conscience, but they will not have peace or a nice life. Have you ever met a criminal or dishonest man in your life that has a peaceful and nice life? All I have ever seen are drunks, doing alcohol, addicts to smoking or gambling, divorced, or their children hate them or stuff like that. Even if you don't have a conscience, there are many other ways that your life will be ruined and it will happen if you make the wrong decisions..

[icebar]

The incident occurred two years ago: his accomplices, posing as employees of Google and Gemini, tricked the victim into granting access to their Google Drive and stole 4,100 Bitcoin.

Bitcoin was discovered a long ago, but if they still keep their security keys in Google Drive or in online platform their wallets will not be safe. It is natural that a thief will always plan to steal, but the holder should have been more careful. Moreover, the assets in his wallet are not ordinary assets that he should keep carelessly. Again, he should have thought about the reason why Google and Gemini would knock him. One should be careful before any accident happens. When an incident happens, there is nothing else to do. However, others should learn from such incidents. One should take maximum security regarding one's assets and wallets, if anyone compromises here, he will be responsible for it.

Holders should be careful when storing Bitcoin.

1. Seed phrases must be kept offline.

2. Avoid taking pictures of seed phrases and storing them in cloud backup.

3. Avoid saving them as drafts in email.

4. Avoid saving any screenshots on online or as notes.

[Don Pedro Dinero]

What a foolish way to get arrested. Why would he spend millions of dollars in a single month ?
Looks like he knew all along that he will get arrested soon and thought to spend the money lavishly while it lasts.
So many watches and sports cars for what ? Not as if he was gonna drive all of them daily.

With the huge amount of bitcoin he has stolen, I'm sure he was already expecting that he'll be in jailed in the future.

No way. It’s the opposite. It’s the typical behavior of a teenager (in this case, a young adult) who finds himself with a bunch of money that’s just burning a hole in his pocket. And since it’s burning a hole in his pocket, he just goes and squanders it. If a fifty-something had stolen that same amount, he would have been much more cautious. But these cases of young people getting caught for committing various crimes are very typical because it immediately shows in their lifestyle.

[SatoPrincess]

What a foolish way to get arrested. Why would he spend millions of dollars in a single month ?
Looks like he knew all along that he will get arrested soon and thought to spend the money lavishly while it lasts.
So many watches and sports cars for what ? Not as if he was gonna drive all of them daily.

Isn’t that how criminals spend stolen money? They didn’t work honestly for it so they don’t know the value of a hard day’s shift. It’s hard to keep a low profile when you’re that young and have millions of dollars. They can’t resist the urge to show off to their peers and on social media that they are rich. As a result, it made it easier for the authorities to piece it all together.

[UchihaSarada]

What a foolish way to get arrested. Why would he spend millions of dollars in a single month ?

Even if he spends $M of dollars in a longer time like several months, years, it will still be a suspicious financial activity and big financial change from him. If a person suddenly changes his finance from poor to super rich, there are surely something happened behind the scene and if the person can not prove reasons of such considerable financial improvement, and sources of such huge money, legal problems will surely appear.

Isn’t that how criminals spend stolen money? They didn’t work honestly for it so they don’t know the value of a hard day’s shift. It’s hard to keep a low profile when you’re that young and have millions of dollars. They can’t resist the urge to show off to their peers and on social media that they are rich. As a result, it made it easier for the authorities to piece it all together.

They mostly have hard lives before successfully stealing big fund from victims, and they are always hurry to enjoy their new lives with massive money. It's hard to control human instinct that motivates bad people to show off their wealth even they got it illegally.

Even if they can manage to stay humble, keep such illegal stolen money for years before spending it, it does not mean they will be legally safe after all.

James Zhong: Silk Road hack seizure.

[fullfitlarry]

Well it's his stupid way of spending that money that really caught him. Imagine, how can a 22 year old have that money to buy those expensive cars? Is he the one being portrayed in "Crazy rich Asians"? Life imitating art in it's finest.

But perhaps he might have experience the life that we all dream of. However, it's not going to last, the money come from illegal means. I'm not saying that they should go and be low profile so that you won't attract attention. But if you look at those illicit crimes in hacks and crypto, they might hide for a year or two or even longer. But sooner the hands of justice will go after you.

[oll]

Malone Lam, a 22-year-old from Singapore, pleaded guilty to stealing $245 million worth of Bitcoin from a Washington resident. The incident occurred two years ago: his accomplices, posing as employees of Google and Gemini, tricked the victim into granting access to their Google Drive and stole 4,100 Bitcoin.

I just don’t understand what he was thinking, showing everyone his huge income, which a 22‑year‑old guy and his friends simply can’t have. After all, as a rule, a guy can only save up for a car by the age of 20–25, and it won’t be any sports car - it’ll be a completely ordinary car, and even then he has to save up very hard.
At least that’s the situation in my country. And if a guy buys 30 sports cars, then, of course, the tax authorities will take notice, no matter how hard he tries to hide it. Although it’s clear that he didn’t hide anything. Like a very great fool, he put all his ill‑gotten gains on display for everyone to see.

[Outhue]

If someone can store up to 4100 BTC on Google drive then many more people are doing the same, this is a sad news to the likes of Lam but also a good news to them because they have just confirmed that some Bitcoin holders still holds their coins on cloud storages and I'm quite impressed that such amount stays in Google drive saved all this while.

This shows that even if he never gave them the access the Bitcoin will likely be saved in the Google cloud? People like taking huge risks when it comes to money, I see why scammers never get tired. Now I'm curious why they gave me just twenty years sentence, I think it's too small unless they are going to sell all he had and sent the money back to the victim? Crime doesn't pay.

[hedgeh0g]

Malone Lam, a 22-year-old from Singapore, pleaded guilty to stealing $245 million worth of Bitcoin from a Washington resident. The incident occurred two years ago: his accomplices, posing as employees of Google and Gemini, tricked the victim into granting access to their Google Drive and stole 4,100 Bitcoin.

I just don’t understand what he was thinking, showing everyone his huge income, which a 22‑year‑old guy and his friends simply can’t have. After all, as a rule, a guy can only save up for a car by the age of 20–25, and it won’t be any sports car - it’ll be a completely ordinary car, and even then he has to save up very hard.
At least that’s the situation in my country. And if a guy buys 30 sports cars, then, of course, the tax authorities will take notice, no matter how hard he tries to hide it. Although it’s clear that he didn’t hide anything. Like a very great fool, he put all his ill‑gotten gains on display for everyone to see.

I just don’t understand how a person could possess two such contradictory qualities: such cunning and such foolishness, because he came up with this whole scheme and implemented it with his friends, and he did it so skillfully that you could make a film about it. And yet he had the foolishness to constantly show off all this wealth, even posting photos on social media - at a time when he could have simply gone into hiding with that money and quietly laundered it, although I think he would have been found out sooner or later, because these are truly enormous sums of money. They messed around online with friends the one time they didn’t turn on the VPN.

[oll]

Malone Lam, a 22-year-old from Singapore, pleaded guilty to stealing $245 million worth of Bitcoin from a Washington resident. The incident occurred two years ago: his accomplices, posing as employees of Google and Gemini, tricked the victim into granting access to their Google Drive and stole 4,100 Bitcoin.
Lam then laundered the stolen funds, spending millions in a single month on thirty sports cars, mansions, and nightclubs.
Today he pleaded guilty, and now he faces up to twenty years in prison.

Interestingly we continue to see folks who engage in these types of criminal activity thinking that they can’t or won’t be caught because they believe that they are some kind of outliers.
In my whole life as a person interacting with the world, I have learned that if you continue in your criminal way of life, it will eventually catch up to you no matter how long.
Now to the story, I don’t know the age of the victim but I am guessing that they may be an older adult who is probably lonely. Lesson here is that no matter your age, don’t trust verify.

I’ve also been thinking about this: how old is the person they deceived? It turns out that he’s either very old, or he simply turned out to be very naive, but at the same time, it sounds very strange that he had such a huge amount of bitcoins. After all, that means he somehow earned them and figured it out, so these points remain somewhat unclear to me personally. And how can a person have 4,000 bitcoins if they’re not a very good technical specialist who understands this? He also has a bright enthusiasm. I didn’t think people like that could be naive at all.