Scammer behind $245 million crypto heist pleads guilty to RICO charges
A 22-year-old Singaporean national, Malone Lam, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges related to a scheme that stole over $245 million in cryptocurrency. Lam led a group of scammers who used social engineering tactics, including impersonating Apple and Google representatives, to gain access to victims' accounts and cryptocurrency holdings. Multiple accomplices have also pleaded guilty, and the group operated globally, utilizing a combination of online scams and physical burglaries.
A 22-year-old Singaporean national, Malone Lam, pleaded guilty to racketeering charges on Tuesday for his role leading a group of scammers who stole over $245 million in cryptocurrency. Lam will appear in U.S. District Court in Washington D.C. on December 8 for more information on sentencing.
Lam was indicted on scamming charges in September 2024 after drawing law enforcement scrutiny for parlaying stolen crypto into lavish Hamptons vacations, cars, and private jets. Prosecutors said Lam, known as “Anne Hathaway,” or “$$$,” ran an operation where he and others would conduct social engineering scams to steal cryptocurrency.
In several incidents, members called crypto holders pretending to be customer service or representatives from Apple and Google, eventually convincing them to hand over key account details that enabled crypto thefts. The group gained access to databases of information about people with large amounts of cryptocurrency and either scammed them into providing access to their funds or broke into their homes to physically steal devices.
Several members of the group were arrested throughout 2024 and 2025 in Miami and Dubai including Lam, who was nabbed at his rental home in Miami on September 18, 2025. The group operated globally, utilizing a combination of online scams and physical burglaries. The Social Engineering Enterprise began around October 2023 when Lam became roommates in Texas with two of the unnamed co-conspirators and began conducting social engineering attacks.
Prosecutors said the group split responsibilities between database hackers, target identifiers, people who called potential victims, money launderers and residential burglars who targeted hardware cryptocurrency wallets. Several members of the group were previously charged with stealing more than $263 million worth of cryptocurrency from one victim in Washington, D.C. The Social Engineering Enterprise began around October 2023 when Lam became roommates in Texas with two of the unnamed co-conspirators and began conducting social engineering attacks.