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Student charged in elaborate digital money theft scheme



Joel Ortiz
who studies information technology
at University of Massachusetts, Boston,
was arrested on July 12, 2018,
at Los Angeles International Airport,
on suspicion of using his tech skills
to hack victims' personal cell phones
and steal millions of dollars in digital currency


A Massachusetts college student
who was named his high school's valedictorian
for his savvy tech skills
hacked into unsuspecting investors' personal cellphones,
email and social media accounts
to steal at least $2 million
in digital currency like Bitcoin,
according to documents
provided by California prosecutors Wednesday.



The elaborate scheme
involved taking over victims' phones,
allowing him to reset passwords
and access online accounts
containing electronic assets
in the form of Bitcoin,
Coinbase, Bittrex and Binance,
the criminal complaint said.

In one case
Ortiz allegedly walked into an AT&T store
and impersonated a victim
in order to get a new SIM card,
which gave him control of the victim's phone.

He obtained access
to the victim's "financial
and personal identifying information,
tax returns, private passwords"
and siphoned $10,000 from a cryptocurrency account,
according to police report.

In several instances
Ortiz allegedly impersonated victims
over text messages and convinced friends
and family members
to "loan" him digital funds,
court documents said.

At one point Ortiz allegedly stole $10,000
from a California resident,
and then tried to get more,
calling the victim's wife
and sending a text to the victim's daughter
that said "TELL YOUR DAD TO GIVE US BITCOIN,"
the documents said.

Court documents identify more than 20 victims
who live in California,
and prosecutors say they know
of additional victims outside of the state.

Ortiz enrolled
at the University of Massachusetts Boston
and studies information technology,
said school spokesman DeWayne Lehman.

Ortiz was the 2016 valedictorian
of Another Course to College,
a small public college preparatory school in Boston,
and was honored alongside other top students
across the city at a luncheon that year
with Democratic Mayor Marty Walsh
and other officials at a downtown hotel.

At his school,
Ortiz was the lead robot software programmer
on its robotics team,
taught other students the basics of software coding
and "led efforts to teach computer science,"
according to a Boston Public Schools' press release
touting the students' accomplishments.

The school system said
Ortiz "loves science and technology,"
is fluent in Spanish
and speaks conversational Chinese.

https://www.barchart.com/story/crypto/quotes/%5EBTCUSD/1163009/student-charged-in-elaborate-digital-money-theft-scheme