A 21-year-old Florida student, Zyaire Wilkins, was arrested by the FBI and charged in connection with a scheme that allegedly used fake Steam games to infect players’ computers and steal cryptocurrency. Prosecutors say Wilkins and unnamed co-conspirators released malware-laced games over roughly two years, including BlockBlasters, Dashverse, Lampy, Lunara, and PirateFi. The games looked and played like legitimate titles, but their malware was designed to steal passwords and other data, then access victims’ crypto wallets. Investigators estimate the operation infected about 8,000 people and compromised around 80 wallets, stealing at least $220,000 in cryptocurrency.
The group allegedly promoted the games through Discord, LinkedIn, and Telegram, and arranged funding and marketing in exchange for a share of stolen funds. The FBI traced transactions from a crypto account linked to the scheme to gift cards, including Uber Eats cards; records connected those cards to deliveries made to Wilkins. Agents later searched his home and seized a MacBook, phones, other devices, and digital wallets. Wilkins declined to answer questions, and his lawyer did not respond to a request for comment. Valve had removed several of the games after discovering malware, and the FBI had previously asked people who downloaded them to provide information for its investigation.
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