Florida man sentenced to 10 years in Scattered Spider case

A Florida man linked to the Scattered Spider cybercrime gang was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft tied to SIM swapping and phishing schemes that drained cryptocurrency from dozens of victims. Noah Michael Urban, 20, of Palm Coast, received the sentence after his arrest in January 2024 and follows a series of charges in Florida and California. Prosecutors say Urban and his coconspirators charted a path from credential theft to hijacking cryptocurrency wallets, with losses estimated in the tens of millions of dollars and restitution obligations topping $13 million.

Urban’s case sheds light on the operations of Scattered Spider, a threat group also tracked as UNC3944, 0ktapus and other aliases. The gang rose to prominence in 2023 with high-profile intrusions against major firms that exposed personal data and financial assets, including breaches at Caesars Entertainment and MGM Resorts. Law enforcement agencies and security researchers have described Scattered Spider as a nimble, socially engineered operation that leverages phishing, SIM swapping and data theft to gain access...