Alleged cryptojacking scheme consumed $3.5M of stolen computing to make just $1M
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Federal prosecutors indicted a Nebraska man on charges he perpetrated a cryptojacking scheme that defrauded two cloud providers-one based in Seattle and the other in Redmond, Washington-out of $3.5 million.
The indictment, filed in US District Court for the Eastern District of New York and unsealed on Monday, charges Charles O. Parks III-45 of Omaha, Nebraska-with wire fraud, money laundering, and engaging in unlawful monetary transactions in connection with the scheme. Parks has yet to enter a plea and is scheduled to make an initial appearance in federal court in Omaha on Tuesday. Parks was arrested last Friday.
Prosecutors allege that Parks defrauded two well-known providers of cloud computing services" of more than $3.5 million in computing resources to mine cryptocurrency. The indictment says the activity was in furtherance of a cryptojacking scheme, a term for crimes that generate digital coin through the acquisition of computing resources and electricity of others through fraud, hacking, or other illegal means.