A 22-year-old man from Singapore is expected to plead guilty this week in Washington to orchestrating one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts in U.S. history, duping a stranger out of bitcoin worth over $240 million. Malone Lam's conviction would be a major milestone in a case that already has led to guilty pleas by several co-conspirators. The scammers who duped a man into turning over the virtual keys to his crypto holdings celebrated the August 2024 heist by embarking on a wild spending spree. The case is an extreme example of an increasingly common form of cybercrime at a time when the Trump administration is relaxing industry regulation.
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This Justice Department court filing in the case against Hamza Doost and Kunal Mehta, that includes a photo of Malone Lam, is photographed Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)
This Justice Department court filing in the case against Hamza Doost and Kunal Mehta, that includes a photo of Malone Lam, is photographed Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)
This Justice Department court filing in the case against Hamza Doost and Kunal Mehta, that includes a photo of Malone Lam, is photographed Friday, Sept. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Jon Elswick)
Cryptocurrency is generating a lot of buzz and scammers are rising to the occasion, finding yet more ways to part you from your money.
Digital currency, or cryptocurrency is becoming popular with investors but it has yet to make an impact on the mainstream world. That may be changing, however.