The FBI arrests a man accused of using Steam games to drain victims’ cryptocurrency wallets

US prosecutors have charged a Florida man with uploading fake video games containing malware on Steam, the popular computer gaming platform. Once victims downloaded and installed the games, the malware was designed to infect their computers, steal their passwords and other data, and drain their cryptocurrency wallets. Based on a criminal complaint.

On Tuesday, the FBI arrested Zaire Wilkins, a 21-year-old Florida resident and student. Prosecutors on Wednesday charged him and several unnamed conspirators with hacking crimes. Over the past two years, Wilkins and his accomplices allegedly published numerous malware-laden video games on Steam, including BlockBlasters, Dashverse, Lampy, Lunara, PirateFi. Using this malware, the FBI says, Wilkins and his associates infected about 8,000 victims, then hacked about 80 cryptocurrency wallets to steal at least $220,000 in cryptocurrency.

Wilkins and the others marketed harmful video games on Discord, LinkedIn and Telegram, according to authorities.

Wilkins’ attorney did not respond to a request for comment.

In March, The FBI announced that it was investigating a hacker He is suspected of using video games embedded with malware posted on Steam to hack victims. In the adThe office called on people who downloaded malicious games, including those named in this week’s complaint, to come forward and provide evidence to assist in the investigation.

Last year, the Steam Maker valve was removed numerous video games from its platform after it was found to contain malware, including PirateFi. The games are all designed to look legitimate, to the point that players can install and play them, but they all contain malware.

After the FBI identified another person involved in the crimes, according to the complaint, federal agents interviewed them. The unnamed person said they worked with other people to raise money to launch and market malicious games in exchange for sharing some of the stolen cryptocurrencies. The FBI identified a specific cryptocurrency account involved in the scheme and then traced cryptocurrency payments made using that account to purchase several gift cards, including UberEats. After subpoenaing Uber, the feds were able to see that the gift cards were linked to an account making deliveries to Wilkins, who went by the online moniker Sibel.eth, according to the complaint.

The feds then obtained a search warrant for Wilkins’ residence, where they seized his MacBook laptop, cell phones, other devices and digital wallets. According to the complaint, he refused to speak or answer any questions.