Scattered Spider Member Ahmed Elbadawy Pleads Guilty to Cybercrime Conspiracy

Summary

Ahmed Elbadawy pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft tied to Scattered Spider extortion attacks. Prosecutors linked the scheme to 29 victims and seek forfeiture of cryptocurrency, cash and other assets.

Key points

Elbadawy pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft; the plea was made public when prosecutors filed a forfeiture order.
Prosecutors say Elbadawy and co-conspirators used social engineering to steal company credentials and target employees with valuable virtual currency accounts.
Authorities linked the group to at least 29 victims across 12 victim companies in sectors including entertainment, telecom, technology, IT and cloud services.
The article reports several virtual-currency thefts, including amounts valued at nearly $6.35 million in September 2021, $571,000 in June 2022 and nearly $1.7 million in December 2022.
Prosecutors are seeking forfeiture of Bitcoin, Ethereum, cash and other property allegedly tied to the crimes.
Co-conspirators Noah Michael Urban and Tyler Robert Buchanan have also faced criminal proceedings.

Article Details

Event Type: Guilty plea in a cybercrime and extortion case
Impact: Prosecutors linked Ahmed Hossam Eldin Elbadawy and his co-conspirators to at least 29 victims and 12 victim companies. The group stole company credentials and sensitive data through social engineering and stole virtual currency worth millions of dollars.

People

Ahmed Hossam Eldin ElbadawyPleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft in connection with extortion attacks from 2021 to 2023.Evans Onyeaka OsieboNamed among five individuals charged in 2024 with links to the Scattered Spider cybercrime outfit.Joel Martin EvansNamed among five individuals charged in 2024 with links to the Scattered Spider cybercrime outfit.Noah Michael UrbanIdentified as Elbadawy’s co-conspirator and a member of the Scattered Spider subset of The Com; sentenced to 10 years in prison.Tyler Robert BuchananIdentified as Elbadawy’s co-conspirator and a member of the Scattered Spider subset of The Com; pleaded guilty to multiple cybercrimes and awaits sentencing.

Threat Actors

Scattered SpiderCybercrime group linked by prosecutors to social engineering, credential theft, extortion attacks, and virtual-currency theft.The ComOnline community described as having interconnected subsets involved in cybercrime; Scattered Spider is identified as one of its subsets.

Industries

business process outsourcingElbadawy’s victims included large businesses in the entertainment, telecom, technology, business process outsourcing, IT, cloud and virtual currency sectors, officials said.EntertainmentProsecutors say he and his co-conspirators stole company credentials and virtual currency from victims across entertainment, telecom, technology, cloud, IT, and virtual currency sectors.TechnologyProsecutors say he and his co-conspirators stole company credentials and virtual currency from victims across entertainment, telecom, technology, cloud, IT, and virtual currency sectors.Virtual currencyProsecutors say he and his co-conspirators stole company credentials and virtual currency from victims across entertainment, telecom, technology, cloud, IT, and virtual currency sectors.