Dutch Crypto Fraudster Sentenced as FBI Thwarts Ransomware Group
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As an Oxford crypto fraudster is sentenced in the U.K., the FBI has infiltrated a global ransomware group.
A former student at the Oxford University pleaded guilty to a single count of theft at Oxford Crown Court yesterday. Wybo Wiersma was accused of stealing over £2.1 million ($2.6 million) of the cryptocurrency IOTA between Jan. 17 and April 30, 2018. Following his guilty plea, Judge Michael Gledhill sentenced Wiersma to four years and six months’ imprisonment.
Wiersma Defrauded 99 Victims
While studying as a doctoral student at Oxford, Wiersma created a fraudulent website that he used to surreptitiously gain access to others’ crypto. The website purportedly created a “randomly-generated” 81-character “string” wallet password users needed to hold the crypto IOTA.
However, the string of numbers had actually already been created by Wiersma, meaning he had access to each one. Between the dates mentioned above, the computer expert proceeded to deplete the IOTA accounts of 99 victims. During the time of the theft, the total amount stolen was worth roughly £2.1 million.
After authorities arrested Wiersma in Jan. 2019, he spent more than two years on remand awaiting trial. The case had been delayed due to the difficulty in finding the relevant IT expert to explain the case to the jury. Wiersma has already served the equivalent of a prison sentence of at least four years.
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