A man impersonating an Uber driver in Scottsdale, Arizona, has been arrested for allegedly stealing $300,000 in cryptocurrency from two passengers.
According to the Scottsdale Police Department, Nuruhussein Hussein targeted victims outside the W Hotel in March and October, posing as their expected Uber driver and addressing them by name.
The W Hotel in Scottsdale that Hussein picked up the two victims, the authorities allege
It remains unclear how he obtained the victims' names.
Police allege that once the victims entered the vehicle, Hussein requested their phones, claiming his was broken.
In one instance, he offered to troubleshoot the Uber app when passengers questioned why it showed their ride had not arrived.
Hussein then reportedly accessed their Coinbase accounts, transferring funds to his cold storage wallets.
When one victim became suspicious and asked for their phone back, prosecutors say Hussein threatened them, warning to "chill or something bad would happen.”
Court documents stated:
"He made threats to one of the victims that they needed to chill or something bad would happen, and the victim believed that he had a gun, although he did not see a weapon at that time."
Hussein was arrested on 11 December by Scottsdale detectives and US Secret Service agents on charges of theft, fraud, and money laundering.
Prosecutors secured a $200,000 cash bond and electronic monitoring, citing concerns about evidence destruction and potential flight to Ethiopia, where Hussein reportedly travels frequently.
He is banned from internet use and international travel pending trial.
Nuruhussein Hussein
A prosecutor noted:
"If Mr. Hussein is able to post bond, we'd ask for electronic monitoring, and I'd also ask for no use of the internet. Given that this was an extremely sophisticated electronic fraud, we do not want Mr. Hussein to potentially destroy further evidence if it exists."
The judge added:
"You are not to leave Maricopa County. That is part of my order today. I understand the state saying that you do go back and forth. You have to stay here."
The investigation remains ongoing, and Hussein is scheduled to appear in court on 18 December.
Based on GitHub, there were at least 19 reported cases of offline cryptocurrency theft worldwide in the past year, up from 17 in 2023 but fewer than the 32 incidents in 2021.
The platform tracks in-person crypto crimes dating back to 2014, including an attempt to extort 1,000 Bitcoin from renowned cryptographer Hal Finney, valued at $400,000 at the time.
In the latest case, on 3 December, thieves in Melbourne, Australia, drove through a shopping center to steal a Bitcoin ATM.
Authorities later discovered the machine pried open and set on fire in a nearby park.
Meanwhile, incidents like the alleged thefts by Hussein raise a troubling question: are ride-hailing services becoming the next frontier for crypto-related crime?
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