DOJ Charges 25-Year-Old with Stealing $450,000 in NFTs and Crypto from OpenSea

cryptonews.com:

A Moroccan man, Soufiane Oulahyane, aged 25, has been charged by the Department of Justice (DOJ) for his alleged involvement in stealing approximately $450,000 worth of cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs). 

Oulahyane is accused of creating a fake version of the popular marketplace OpenSea, tricking victims into providing their private crypto wallet keys.

According to the DOJ statement, Oulahyane paid for advertisements that ensured his fraudulent OpenSea website appeared as the top result on search engines when users searched for "OpenSea." 

He then convinced people to input their wallet keys, unknowingly handing over access to their cryptocurrency. 

Damian Williams, the U.S. District Attorney for the Southern District of New York, referred to this act as "spoofing," a classic criminal technique adapted for the crypto space.

While Oulahyane is currently in custody in Morocco on foreign charges, he has been indicted by the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, and the Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Christie M. Curtis.

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As alleged, Soufiane Oulahyane used a common cybercrime technique to steal victim cryptocurrency and NFTs.  ‘Spoofing’ is one of the oldest tricks in the criminal playbook. The charges unsealed today should serve as a reminder that digital assets, such as cryptocurrency and NFTs, are not immune from cyber fraudsters and that my Office is committed to prosecuting these fraudsters both here and abroad.” 

FBI Acting Assistant Director in Charge Christie M. Curtis emphasized the FBI's commitment to holding individuals accountable for malicious