Federal court documents have shed new light on the victims affected by cybercrimes perpetrated by a Florida man, Noah Urban, who was recently sentenced to ten years in federal prison. Urban, aged 21 and hailing from Palm Coast, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud charges in two separate federal cases—one from Florida and another from southern California. While the Florida charges were unveiled in early 2024, the California involvement dates back to an announcement made in November 2023.
The Florida case detailed how Urban managed to steal a staggering $800,000 in cryptocurrency from five victims between August 2022 and March 2023. Urban, alongside others, allegedly exploited the technique known as “SIM swapping,” where they culled personal information from victims to illicitly transfer their cell phone numbers to devices under Urban’s control. Once this was accomplished, the conspirators were able to reset passwords for cryptocurrency accounts by receiving confirmation codes via the victims’ compromised cell phone numbers.
In the November 2024 California case, Urban was charged along with four others for a phishing scheme that targeted various companies through deceptive text messages. These messages were designed to capture employee login credentials, which subsequently led to significant data breaches and theft of millions in cryptocurrency.
As part of his plea agreement, Urban has been ordered to pay a hefty $13 million in restitution to the victims of both federal cases. Though the plea agreement detailed the amounts owed to each victim, it did not disclose their identities.
Recently, Urban’s attorneys signaled plans to appeal the judgment to the 11th Circuit of the U.S. Court of Appeals. The appeal raises questions given Urban’s earlier waiver of his rights to contest his sentence, although the legal team noted some exceptions that might allow for the appeal.
Initial appeal documents included a list of 59 restitution victims, cited with names, addresses, and amounts owed. Victims were scattered across several states, including California, New York, Texas, and Florida, with many others hailing from distant locations. Among the victims, a California man stands out as the single largest recipient of restitution, owed over $3.5 million, aligning with reports suggesting he is a venture capitalist. Additional significant claims include a New Hampshire man, owed more than $1.6 million, and an Alabama resident due over $1.1 million.
Other victims include individuals from various professions—some owed around half a million dollars or more, such as a cloud computing architect from California, a 74-year-old from Nevada, and an Oregon hypnotherapist.
The case also provides glimpses into how some victims were financially impacted, highlighting methods like “SIM swapping” and showcasing Urban’s involvement with a cybercrime group known as “Scattered Spider.” Federal officials have warned that this group specializes in exploiting large companies’ IT departments by impersonating help desk staff to gain access to sensitive information.
Reports indicate that some of the funds extracted from these victims were utilized to facilitate phishing activities, contributing to the scale and impact of the crimes committed. Urban is currently incarcerated at FCI Tallahassee, where the presiding judge recommended that he partake in mental health treatment, specifically targeting gambling issues.
