A phony Uber driver who is accused of stealing over $300,000 in bitcoin from unwary passengers has been taken into custody by police.
Nuruhussein Hussein, 40, was arrested by Scottsdale, Arizona, a desert community east of Phoenix, on Wednesday on felony counts of theft, fraud, and money laundering, according to a statement from the Scottsdale Police Department.
Police claimed they discovered that between March and December of this year, the suspect posed as an Uber driver and picked up gullible passengers who had requested a real trip outside a Scottsdale hotel as part of a combined operation with the US Secret Service field office in Phoenix.
According to the police, Hussein would then want to use the victim’s phone, claiming that he needed to connect to the Uber app or look up instructions.
“While manipulating the unsuspecting victim s phone the suspect transferred cryptocurrency from their digital wallet to his digital wallet,” police stated in a statement.
Police and the Secret Service are still investigating the man, who was placed into Maricopa County Jail. Two counts of money laundering, two counts of fraudulent schemes, and two counts of theft were brought against him. He is scheduled to make another appearance on December 18 after appearing in court on Wednesday for a bond hearing.
According to testimony given in court on Wednesday, he advised one claimed victim to “chill or something bad would happen.”
Prosecutors informed the court that the suspect frequently visits Ethiopia and poses a flight risk, and they posted a $200,000 bond on him. The bond’s conditions include remaining in Maricopa County, being continuously monitored electronically, and not using the internet at all.
The rapidly expanding and profitable crime of cryptocurrency fraud is a major issue for law enforcement. According to the FBI, in 2023, people in the United States filed over 69,000 complaints and reported losing $5.6 billion to this type of scam.
Because some victims are reluctant to call the police, the actual number is probably far higher.
The FBI’s inaugural bitcoin Fraud Report, published in September, found that over 16,000 allegations of bitcoin fraud were from individuals over 60.
Cryptocurrency-related arrests are very uncommon. According to prosecutors on Thursday, four alleged scammers—three from Southern California and one from a Chicago suburb—were charged in connection with a purported “pig butchering” scheme that defrauded people out of over $80 million last December.
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