Noah Urban, a 20-year-old resident of Palm Coast, Florida, recently admitted to a string of federal charges in a Jacksonville courtroom. Urban, who has ties to the notorious Scattered Spider hacking group, pleaded guilty to several charges, including conspiracy, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft in Florida. Additionally, he also confessed to a conspiracy to commit wire fraud in a separate case in California.
The charges against Urban stem from his alleged involvement in a series of complex crimes, including cryptocurrency theft, phishing schemes, and ransomware attacks. Prosecutors claim that he and his co-conspirators used a tactic called “SIM swapping” to steal over $800,000 in cryptocurrency from five victims between August 2022 and March 2023. By illicitly transferring victims’ phone numbers to devices under their control, Urban and his associates were able to access cryptocurrency accounts through password resets and text message verification.
According to court documents, Urban’s crimes resulted in total losses surpassing $13 million across 59 victims. As part of his plea agreement, Urban agreed to make restitution to all victims, even those not directly connected to the offenses he pleaded guilty to. This wide-ranging restitution plan highlights the significant financial impact of Urban’s actions on both individuals and companies.
In addition to repaying the victims, Urban will also forfeit assets linked to his criminal activities, including substantial cryptocurrency holdings in Dai, Ethereum, Monero, Bitcoin, and Ripple. Authorities also seized $27,702 in cash from his residence. It is reported that the value of his confiscated Ethereum holdings alone is around $1.3 million. The plea agreement also lists jewelry and six watches as part of the forfeited assets.
Urban’s affiliation with the Scattered Spider hacking group further complicates the case. Federal officials have identified him as a key member of the group, which specializes in targeting large corporations and IT help desks. The gang uses various techniques such as phishing text messages, impersonation of IT staff, and stolen credentials to access systems, deploy ransomware, and steal sensitive data. Urban, known by the aliases “King Bob” and “Gustavo Fring,” participated in phishing attacks to steal employee login credentials and access corporate data.
It was revealed that Urban personally profited several million dollars through cryptocurrency theft but lost most of the funds on online gambling sites. Authorities seized his computer, which held approximately $2.89 million in cryptocurrency, a value that increased to $3.67 million by October 2024 due to market fluctuations.
As Urban awaits sentencing, which is expected in approximately 75 days, a pre-sentencing report will help determine the appropriate federal sentencing range based on the severity of his crimes. This case serves as a stark reminder of the growing threat posed by cybercriminals and the importance of robust cybersecurity measures to protect against such attacks.