- An American man is the latest to plead guilty in a social engineering scheme that stole crypto worth $263 million.
- Feds allege that a criminal group conned US and worldwide crypto investors to hand over login information and private keys.
- Stolen Bitcoin was then laundered and spent on fancy parties, cars, and clothes, according to the indictment.
A US man has pleaded guilty for his role in a $263 million crypto theft led by a group of online gamers.
The US Justice Department on Tuesday announced that Evan Tangeman, 22, of Newport Beach, California, was the latest to admit his part in a social engineering scheme that stole 4,100 Bitcoins—priced at the time of the crime at $263 million but now worth over $383 million. The scheme ran from October 2023 to May 2025.
Dubbed the “Social Engineering Enterprise” by US feds, a group of online gamers became friends before working together to commit cybercrimes, the indictment read. They then hacked databases to steal crypto users’ information and con them into providing user logins and private keys.
“Members and associates of the SE Enterprise served different roles and held different responsibilities,” the indictment said.
“The roles included database hackers, organizers, target identifiers, callers, money launderers, and residential burglars targeting hardware virtual currency wallets.”
The indictment added that after gaining the trust of crypto investors, the criminal group was able to pretend they were legitimate digital asset exchange employees and get login information or private keys.
Stolen crypto was laundered by defendants—including Tangeman—and spent on bottle service parties, private jet rentals, security guards, luxury handbags and watches, and properties in Los Angeles, the Hamptons, and Miami, according to the feds.
The indictment added that the defendants would spend up to $500,000 a night on parties and give away designer handbags worth tens of thousands of dollars.
A total of nine defendants have pleaded guilty, the Justice Department said.
The Justice Department first announced the investigation last year, naming defendants Malone Lam and Jeandiel Serrano as key players in the criminal group.
Feds at the time alleged that the two defendants used crypto mixing services—applications that obfuscate the movement of digital funds—to hide their tracks.
Crypto sleuth ZachXBT last year said that stolen funds were switched between other cryptocurrencies, including the privacy coin Monero.
The Justice Department did not immediately respond to DL News’ request for comment.
Social engineering scams are becoming more common in the crypto sphere. Such crimes involve manipulating targets to hand over login information or click on compromising links.
Top hackers such as state-sponsored Lazarus Group—the culprits behind industry’s biggest hack of the Bybit exchange in February—also used social engineering techniques to steal billions of dollars.
Mathew is a Latin America-based correspondent at DL News. Got a tip? Email him at mdisalvo@dlnews.com.
