U.S. prosecutors have accused Florida resident Zyaire Wilkins, 21, of uploading malware-laden fake video games to Steam, the popular PC gaming platform. The games, including BlockBlasters, Dashverse, Lampy, Lunara, and PirateFi, appeared legitimate and playable but contained malware designed to infect victims’ computers, steal passwords and data, and drain cryptocurrency wallets. Wilkins was arrested by the FBI on Tuesday, and prosecutors charged him and unnamed co-conspirators with hacking crimes the following day.
Over the past two years, Wilkins and his partners allegedly published several such games on Steam and marketed them on Discord, LinkedIn, and Telegram. Authorities say the scheme infected around 8,000 victims and compromised about 80 cryptocurrency wallets, resulting in the theft of at least $220,000 worth of crypto. Valve, Steam’s maker, had previously removed several of the games, including PirateFi, after they were found to contain malware. In March, the FBI had publicly sought evidence from people who downloaded the malicious titles.
Investigators identified another person involved who admitted working with others to fund and market the games in exchange for a share of the stolen cryptocurrency. The FBI traced a crypto account used in the scheme to purchases of gift cards, including Uber Eats cards. After subpoenaing Uber, agents linked the deliveries to Wilkins, who used the online nickname Sibel.eth. A search warrant at his residence led to the seizure of his MacBook, cellphones, other devices, and digital wallets; he refused to answer questions.