A man from Brooklyn was indicted for a giant online phishing scam that targeted crypto currency investors and stole nearly $16 million in total from them.
Prosecutors say 23-year-old Ronald Spektor ripped off his victims over several years through the huge phishing and social engineering scheme which he operated out of his Sheepshead Bay apartment.
He allegedly gained access to about 100 users’ Coinbase accounts.
Prosecutors say Spektor used the handle @lolimfeelingevil. He allegedly contacted the users, pretending to be a Coinbase representative, and claimed that their assets were at risk from a hacker and convinced them to transfer their money to a new cryptocurrency wallet.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez says the Spektor, between April 2023 and December 2024, hired bots to bombard the users with text message alerts to aid in the con.
“What the victims didn’t know is that the text comes from the defendant and that he created the wallet,” Gonzalez said. “So, he knows the seed phrase, and so as soon as the money is transferred, he’s just waiting for it.”
Prosecutors say Spektor had 12 digital wallets to move the stolen crypto around and had 29 documents with tens of thousands of email addresses and passwords, and from just one of his crypto currency addresses, was able to make 29,000 transfers.
In addition, Gonzalez said Spektor allegedly recruited people online to help them to do this to more people.
According to the criminal complaint, in October 2024, Spektor conned a California resident out of $6 million in crypto.
“Obviously, we’re reviewing everything, but these are all user-initiated actions,” said Spektor’s attorney Todd Spodek. “There are controls in place, so there’s no allegations that Mr. Spektor himself is moving anyone’s cryptocurrency.”
Spektor was arraigned on Friday on a 31-count indictment charging him with first-degree grand larceny, first-degree money laundering, scheme to defraud and other related counts. He pled not guilty to the charges.
“We’re disputing everything, and we’ll deal with them in court at the appropriate time,” Spodek said.
The judge set Spektor’s bail at $500,000 cash. When Spektor’s father tried to bail him out, the judge wouldn’t accept the money because he could not account for how he obtained the funds.
Prosecutors say through “Operation Phish Net,” about half a million dollars, about $105,000 in cash and approximately $400,000 in cryptocurrency, has been recovered, and they are working to recover more.
———-
* More Brooklyn news
* Send us a news tip
* Download the abc7NY app for breaking news alerts
* Follow us on YouTube
Submit a tip or story idea to Eyewitness News
Have a breaking news tip or an idea for a story we should cover? Send it to Eyewitness News using the form below. If attaching a video or photo, terms of use apply.