He was 15 years old.

Stole 24 million dollars in cryptocurrency.

Spent it on escorts, nightclubs, and a $100,000 Rolex watch.

Then the FBI came knocking at the door.

This is the most violent phone swapping scam you haven't heard of before.

Cryptocurrency investor, Michael Turpin, had just left a conference.

Across the country, a group of teenagers bribed telecom workers and stole his phone number.

Who led them?

Ellis Pinsky, aged 15.

In a Skype call, Ellis unleashed malware that extracted Turpin's digital life data - emails, cloud files, everything - searching for wallet keys.

Then came the jackpot:

900 million dollars in $ETH.

But it was locked.

So they dug deeper.

BTC

93,402.47

+0.27%

After hours, Turpin reviewed his accounts.

His largest wallet? Secure.

But 24 million dollars? Gone.

It became the largest single phone swap scam ever.

Ellis suddenly became wealthy.

He bought a Rolex watch and hid it under his bed.

But trouble began quickly.

One of his associates ran off with 1.5 million dollars.

And another talked about hiring a hitman.

Ellis's career started early:

He grew up in a cramped apartment in New York.

He got his first Xbox at the age of thirteen.

Joined hacking forums.

Learned SQL injection.

Sold rare accounts on Instagram.

But the influence wasn't enough.