He was 15 years old.
He stole 24 million dollars worth of cryptocurrency.
He spent it on escorts, nightclubs, and a 100,000-dollar Rolex watch.
Then the FBI came knocking on the door.
This is the most violent SIM swap scam you've never heard of.
Cryptocurrency investor, Michael Turbine, had just left a conference.
Across the country, a group of teenagers bribed telecom workers and stole his phone number.
Who led them?
Ellis Penske, 15 years old.
In a Skype call, Ellis launched malware that extracted the digital life data of Turbine - emails, cloud files, everything - in search of wallet keys.
Then came the jackpot:
900 million dollars in $ETH
But it was locked.
So they dug deeper.
BTC
93,654.18
-0.22%
Hours later, Turbine reviewed his accounts.
His biggest wallet? Safe.
But 24 million dollars? Gone.
It became the largest individual SIM swap operation ever.
Ellis suddenly became wealthy.
He bought a Rolex watch and hid it under his bed.
But the problems started quickly.
One of his colleagues 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.
He joined hacking forums.
Learn to inject $SOL
He sold rare Instagram accounts.
But the influence wasn't enough.
He wanted money.
The SIM swap gave him leverage:
Convincing a telecom company representative to transfer someone's number to your own SIM card -
Controlling text messages, two-factor authentication, recovery codes.
From there:
Resetting passwords.
Accessing emails. Stealing wallets.
ETH
1,754.3
-2.05%
But his former partner Troglia couldn't keep quiet.
He tweeted things like: "I stole 24 million dollars. I still can't keep a friend."
He was quickly apprehended.
He used his real name on Coinbase.
The FBI intervened.
Troglia went to prison.
Ellis? He returned most of the money.
He was a minor.
He faced no charges.
Turbine sued him for 22 million dollars.
Then armed masked men broke into his home.
Ellis is currently studying philosophy and computer science at New York University.
He wants to start startups.
Paying off his debt.
Leave the chaos behind.
At the age of fifteen, he had:
- 562 $BTC
- Information from within the telecom sector
- A lawsuit
- A blow to his life
And he doesn't know what's waiting for him.
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