Fake Uber Driver in Arizona Allegedly Steals $300,000 in Cryptocurrency

Police in Scottsdale, Arizona, have arrested a man suspected of stealing $300,000 in cryptocurrency while posing as an Uber driver. This was reported by local media.

According to the investigation, in March and October, the accused, Nuruhussein Hussein, targeted two victims outside the W Scottsdale hotel. He approached them by name, pretending to be the Uber driver they had ordered. Court documents do not specify how Hussein obtained this information.

Once inside the vehicle, he borrowed the passenger’s phone, in one instance claiming his own smartphone was broken, and in another, allegedly to fix an issue with the Uber app, which showed the driver had not yet arrived.

Subsequently, the perpetrator hacked into the passengers’ accounts on the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase, transferring assets to his own wallet. He threatened one of the victims who became suspicious and demanded the return of her phone.

Hussein has been charged with theft, fraud, and money laundering. Authorities estimate the total theft exceeded $300,000, although court documents mention a sum of approximately $223,000.

Bail for the suspect has been set at $200,000 in cash. If posted, Hussein will be placed under electronic monitoring, prohibited from using the internet, and barred from leaving the country to prevent the destruction of “additional evidence” or fleeing to Ethiopia.

The next court hearing is scheduled for December 18.

According to GitHub, at least 19 cases of offline cryptocurrency thefts have been recorded in various countries over the past year, compared to 17 in 2023 and 32 in 2021.

Earlier, in the third quarter, crypto hackers and scammers stole assets worth $753 million, according to CertiK.