Notorious Israeli Crypto Criminal Dragged to Court 

Eliyahu Gigi, a notorious Israeli hacker who allegedly stole NIS 6.1 million ($1.7 million) in bitcoin (BTC) ether (ETH) and other altcoins from foreign citizens through illegal means, has been indicted by Israeli authorities, reports local news source Globes on July 18, 2019.

Israeli Hacker Nabbed 

Per sources close to the matter, the long arm of the law has finally caught up with Eliyahu Gigi, an Israeli hacker that allegedly stole nearly $2 million worth of bitcoin and other virtual currencies through various illegal means.

According to an indictment filed by Adv. Yeela Harel from the cyber department in the State Attorney’s Office, against the 31-year-old Tel Aviv resident, he committed offenses under the nation’s Computer Law, theft, fraud, aggravated counterfeiting, forgery, perjury, money laundering, and tax evasion.

Gigi has been accused of operating a criminal enterprise involving numerous websites that facilitate illicit activities while generating huge profits for him. 

Gigi Orchestrated Malware Attacks 

Reportedly, the bad actor planted a vast array of crypto-stealing malware on various websites and this malicious software ended up on the computers of innocent victims, stealing their cryptoassets as well as other sensitive financial information.

The accused allegedly posted messages containing links to fake crypto wallets embedded with dangerous trojans on various crypto-focused online forums.

Once a victim downloaded the wallet and stored his digital asset in it, the coins will be stolen by Gigi. 

Gigi allegedly used various sophisticated remote servers to cover the tracks of his criminal enterprise.

He also made use of various cryptocurrency mixers and tumblers to conceal both the source and destination of the digital currencies before transferring the cryptos into various wallets.

Initially, it was believed that Gigi had collaborated with his younger brother, an unnamed 22-year-old demobilized Israeli soldier to steal $100 million worth of cryptocurrencies from victims through a sophisticated international phishing attack.

However, investigations conducted by the cybercrime unit of the Israeli Police Lahav 433 squad in conjunction with the Israel Tax Authority, Yahalom unit, has revealed that the accused managed to steal only $1.7 million in cryptos.

In related news, BTCManager informed on June 24, 2019, that the Israeli Police had arrested two brothers, Eli Gigi, and Assaf Gigi for their involvement in the Bitfinex heist and orchestrating various bitcoin phishing scams.