A 22-year-old eighth-grade dropout stole $245 million in a Google impersonation scheme — then blew $569,000 at a club in one night

The money didn’t come from a lucky crypto investment, either. Prosecutors say it was stolen from a Washington, D.C., resident in August 2024, in one of the largest cryptocurrency thefts in U.S. history. The group allegedly posed as representatives of Google and the Gemini crypto exchange, and the victim lost a staggering $245 million in digital assets.

How the group allegedly got hold of the money is another part of the story. A scam doesn’t always begin with a suspicious-looking email or an obvious fake website.

What happened?

Lam, a Singaporean citizen who had been living in Miami, pleaded guilty to participating in a federal racketeering conspiracy.

The Justice Department says the international cybercrime operation began around October 2023 and continued until approximately May 2025. The group allegedly used social engineering to steal cryptocurrency and move the money around to hide where it came from. Prosecutors say the group formed through connections made on online gaming platforms and included people based in California, Connecticut, New York, Florida and abroad.

Lam and his associates allegedly posed as representatives of Google and the Gemini cryptocurrency exchange. They convinced the victim to give them access to his Google Drive and reveal security codes, according to prosecutors.

That gave the group access to more than 4,100 bitcoin, worth over $245 million at the time. The money was then laundered and converted into cash. Prosecutors say Lam used some of it to buy more than 30 luxury cars, including custom Porsches, Lamborghinis and Ferraris. He also bought a $2 million watch and spent millions at clubs.

Lam is one of 18 defendants charged in the case and the 11th to plead guilty, according to the Associated Press. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. A status hearing is scheduled for Dec. 8, 2026.

How scammers can trick you into giving up your crypto

You don’t have to be sitting on millions in crypto to become a target.

The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center reported a record $16.6 billion in losses from internet crime and scams in 2024. Cryptocurrency-related fraud accounted for at least $9.3 billion of that total, with the FBI reporting that crypto fraud increased sharply from the previous year.

Those numbers include everything from investment scams to account takeovers. But many of these schemes start in a familiar way — someone reaches out claiming there is a problem with your account.

The person might say they’re from a crypto exchange, a bank or a technology company. They could tell you there’s suspicious activity, ask you to verify your identity or say you need to secure your account..

In Lam’s case, prosecutors say the scammers posed as representatives of Google and Gemini and convinced the victim to provide access to his Google Drive and security codes.