In the world of cybercrime, recent events have shed light on the nefarious activities of convicted UK hacker Gurvinder Bhangu, also known as Gurv. His involvement in the compromises of American actress Sydney Sweeney’s and ‘Breaking Bad’ actor Bob Odenkirk’s X accounts has resulted in over $530,000 being stolen through Solana meme coin scams.
On July 2nd, Sydney Sweeney fell victim to a SIM swap attack, leading to a fraudulent meme coin based on Solana called SWEENEY being posted from her account. The price of the coin spiked and then plummeted, with the team wallets from the scam selling off more than $515,000 worth of the coin before cashing out.
After the incident, Gurv took to social media to brazenly troll and attempt to take credit for other high-profile incidents, including those involving Hulk Hogan and 50 Cent. However, evidence for these claims is limited, according to on-chain detective ZachXBT. Timing analysis revealed that the proceeds from the SWEENEY scam were traced to an exchange on Solana, where they were converted to Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Screenshots surfaced online showing Gurv receiving codes to log into Sweeney’s account from the SIM swap on Telegram, as well as a receipt from Verizon for the SIM swap. Gurv’s identity was confirmed based on his unique Telegram user ID and conversations about his past hacking activities. Further investigation uncovered a transfer of 1.5 ETH to an exchange on July 9th, which was then received on Solana in connection to the Sydney Sweeney SIM swap.
On the same day, Bob Odenkirk’s X account was also hacked, with links to meme coins KIRK and SAUL being posted. The hackers only profited a small amount due to mishandling the scam, with proceeds traced back to the same Ethereum address used in the Sweeney hack. Funds were suspected to have been transferred to crypto casinos and used for gift card purchases. The wallets connected to the hacks currently hold $488,000.
The recent high-profile hacks involving Sydney Sweeney and Bob Odenkirk shine a light on the sophisticated tactics of cybercriminals like Gurvinder Bhangu. As investigators work to unravel the intricate web of cryptocurrency transactions and social engineering tactics, it is clear that the battle against cybercrime is ongoing and ever-evolving.
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