An American man has pleaded guilty in a significant social engineering scheme that resulted in the theft of cryptocurrency valued at $263 million. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Evan Tangeman, a 22-year-old resident of Newport Beach, California, is the latest individual to admit his involvement in a complex operation that spanned from October 2023 to May 2025 and involved the theft of 4,100 Bitcoins.
This operation has been referred to by authorities as the “Social Engineering Enterprise,” comprising a group of online gamers who initially formed friendships before collaborating on a series of cybercrimes. The indictment elaborates that these individuals employed various tactics, including hacking databases, to acquire sensitive information from cryptocurrency users and deceiving them into surrendering their login credentials and private keys.
The indictment outlines the specific roles within the criminal organization, including database hackers, organizers, target identifiers, callers, money launderers, and burglars specializing in hardware virtual currency wallets. By establishing trust with their victims, the group could impersonate legitimate employees of digital asset exchanges, further facilitating the theft of critical access information.
Once the cryptocurrency was stolen, the culprits, including Tangeman, allegedly laundered the funds, funneling them into extravagant expenditures such as lavish parties, private jet rentals, security services, luxury handbags, and high-priced watches. Properties in affluent areas like Los Angeles, the Hamptons, and Miami have also been reportedly acquired using the illicit funds. Expenses reached staggering amounts, with some parties costing as much as $500,000 per night and designer handbags gifted to friends and associates priced at tens of thousands of dollars.
The Justice Department indicated that a total of nine defendants have already pleaded guilty in connection with this case. The investigation, first made public last year, also named Malone Lam and Jeandiel Serrano as prominent figures within the criminal group. These individuals allegedly utilized crypto mixing services—applications that obscure the movement of digital assets—to conceal their activities. It has been reported by crypto analyst ZachXBT that the stolen funds were often exchanged for other cryptocurrencies, including the privacy-focused coin Monero, to further hide their tracks.
Social engineering scams have been on the rise within the cryptocurrency industry, whereby perpetrators manipulate their targets into revealing confidential information or clicking on harmful links. Notably, high-profile hacking groups, such as the state-sponsored Lazarus Group—known for the major hack of the Bybit exchange in February—have also utilized similar tactics to orchestrate significant financial crimes.
