Federal agents arrested 21-year-old Florida student Zyaire Wilkins on Tuesday for allegedly uploading malware-infected video games to Steam to drain $220,000 from victim cryptocurrency wallets, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday.
How the Fake Steam Games Drained 8,000 Computers
Over the past two years, Wilkins and a network of unnamed co-conspirators published several malware-laden titles on Steam, including BlockBlasters, Dashverse, Lampy, Lunara, and PirateFi. The malicious software infected roughly 8,000 computers, enabling the hackers to harvest stored passwords, compromise personal data, and loot at least 80 cryptocurrency wallets.
To lure unsuspecting victims into downloading the infected software, the group heavily promoted the titles across social platforms like Discord, LinkedIn, and Telegram.
Playable Games Masked Malicious Code
Over the last year, Steam developer Valve removed multiple compromised titles from its platform, including PirateFi. The deceptive games were built to function normally, allowing victims to install and play them without suspecting that dangerous spyware was running in the background.
The federal probe became public in March when the FBI announced an investigation into malware distributed through Steam. At the time, the bureau issued an open call asking players who downloaded the flagged titles to provide evidence to support the ongoing case.
How an Uber Eats Order Unmasked the Hacker
The breakthrough in the investigation came after FBI agents located and interviewed an accomplice involved in the operation. The individual disclosed that the syndicate raised capital to launch and market the bogus games in exchange for a cut of the stolen crypto assets.
Federal investigators tracked a specific cryptocurrency wallet tied to the operation and discovered stolen funds were converted into Uber Eats gift cards. A subpoena served to Uber revealed that food orders purchased with those gift cards were delivered directly to Wilkins, who operated online under the alias “Sibel.eth.”
Search Warrant and Arrest
Armed with the delivery evidence, federal agents executed a search warrant at Wilkins’ residence. Investigators seized his MacBook laptop, cellphones, digital devices, and hardware wallets. Wilkins refused to answer questions from law enforcement during the search, and his legal representative did not respond to requests for comment.
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