In summary
- A man was arrested in Arizona after stealing $300,000 in Cryptocurrency from passengers, pretending to be an Uber driver.
- The victims were forced to lend him their phones, to empty their Coinbase accounts.
- Hussein faces charges of fraud and money laundering, with bail set at $200,000 and electronic monitoring.
A man pretending to be an Uber driver was arrested after allegedly stealing $300,000 in cryptocurrency from two passengers in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The Scottsdale Police Department claims Nuruhussein Hussein picked up the passengers in front of a local hotel, posing as the Uber they had requested. He even went so far as to address them by name, according to a recent report from Fox10 Phoenix.
The report does not explain how Hussein knew the names of the passengers or that they had requested Uber rides. The investigation is still ongoing.
With the passengers inside, he asked to borrow his victims’ phones after claiming that his was broken. In one case, he offered to check the passenger’s Uber app to check why it indicated the driver had not yet arrived at the pickup point.
With the phone in hand, Hussein allegedly emptied the victim’s Coinbase accounts, transferring the funds to an address he controlled. When one of the passengers became suspicious of their activities on their phone, he allegedly told them to “calm down or something bad would happen.”
US Secret Service agents arrested Hussein on December 11 and charged him with theft, fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors requested—and obtained—cash bail set at $200,000. If you can pay for your release, you will be subject to electronic monitoring.
Hussein is also banned from accessing the internet or traveling abroad over concerns that he could destroy evidence or flee to Ethiopia, where he frequently travels. He is scheduled to return to court on December 18.
Separately, a GitHub repository maintained by cypherpunk Jameson Lopp lists 19 incidents of cryptocurrency thefts that occurred offline around the world in 2024. That’s almost on par with the 17 incidents reported in 2023, but also represents a significant decline in compared to the 32 incidents listed in 2022.
Some recent incidents include the kidnapping of Dean Skurka, CEO of Toronto-based cryptocurrency firm WonderFi Technologies in November. Unknown suspects forced Skurka into a vehicle during rush hour, demanding a $720,000 ransom for his release — and then released him after it was paid.
In November, a Ukrainian man became the latest victim of a “$5 wrench attack” to steal 250,000 in USDT. A local news outlet reported that he was restrained with zip ties in a hotel and intimidated with weapons until he authorized the transfer.
Edited by Stacy Elliott.
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