A Canadian teen stole more than $13 million in crypto through social engineering scams to pay for an “exotic lifestyle” in Miami and Los Angeles, including buying luxury cars, jewelry and taking private jet trips, US prosecutors say.
In May, US prosecutors charged then-19-year-old Trenton Richard Johnston for a scheme in which he and co-conspirators impersonated Google, Trezor and other crypto firm employees to gain access to victims’ crypto.
On Tuesday, Johnston, now 20, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, avoiding further charges that could have resulted in a maximum sentence of up to 40 years in prison.
Trenton Richard Johnston’s mugshot. Source: Miami-Dade County
Social engineering attacks, where scammers portray themselves as trusted entities or people to trick victims, have become widespread in crypto, as artificial intelligence tools have boosted the capabilities of attackers to impersonate others.
“This case shows that some of the biggest crypto thefts today are not driven by sophisticated code exploits, but by basic human manipulation,” Cyvers CEO and co-founder Deddy Lavid told Cointelegraph.
“Crypto makes this especially dangerous because transactions are fast and largely irreversible,” he added.
“The attacker only needs to win the victim’s trust once, for a few minutes, and the loss can be permanent.”
According to court documents, Johnston and his co-conspirators started their crypto scam efforts around January 2024. In February, Johnston tricked a victim into believing that his Google email and Coinbase accounts were compromised, allowing them to steal approximately $41,000 in Ether (ETH).
Less than a month later, Johnston and his co-conspirators posed as Google and Trezor representatives to trick another victim in California into believing that someone was attempting to access their cryptocurrency wallet, allowing them to drain the account of about $13 million in Bitcoin (BTC).
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About $1.2 million of the stolen crypto was used to fund a lavish lifestyle across Miami and Los Angeles in just two months, according to prosecutors.
With the help of exotic car-rental company owner Brandon Tardibone, who also pleaded guilty to money laundering, Johnston spent most of the money on buying and renting luxury cars, including two BMWs and a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ.
A picture of a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, a luxury car prosecutors say Trenton Johnston used stolen money to rent. Source: Wikimedia Commons
Stolen funds were also used to rent a private jet, a rental house in North Miami and plane tickets for “two girls from New York.”
Johnston’s run ended in March, when he was pulled over for speeding in a Rolls-Royce and found to be carrying 21 suspected amphetamine tablets. Investigators seized his computer, cellphone and handwritten notes, uncovering his link to the fraud scheme.
He has since turned over approximately 53.16 Bitcoin and 275.23 Ether, worth $3.7 million at current prices. In light of the plea deal and in return for full cooperation, prosecutors have recommended a sentence of 51 to 63 months in prison for Johnston, along with dismissal of the wire fraud charges.
Prosecutors also recommended Tardibone serve a sentence of between 27 and 33 months in prison.
US crackdown on crypto scams
The latest case is another win for US authorities tracking high-profile crypto scammers.
In April, a Californian resident was sentenced to 70 months in prison for his part in a criminal enterprise that stole $263 million in cryptocurrency through social engineering and burglary. Evan Tangeman, 22, pleaded guilty in December for helping the criminal organization launder at least $3.5 million in illicit funds.
In February, a Chinese national was sentenced to 20 years in US federal prison for a global cryptocurrency scam that stole more than $73 million from victims, many of them American investors.
“The industry cannot rely on education alone,” Leddy said.
“Wallets, exchanges, custodians, and banks need real-time, pre-transaction security controls that detect suspicious behavior, risky destination wallets, and laundering patterns before funds leave the account. The key shift is from investigating fraud after the theft to preventing it before execution,” he added.
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