Ahmed Hossam Eldin Elbadawy has been a convicted felon since last September. The public only found out this week.
Federal prosecutors filed a forfeiture order against the 24-year-old Texan, and the filing pulled a year-old sealed plea into view. The charges he admitted to are wire fraud conspiracy and aggravated identity theft. Court records released Tuesday place him inside the aggressive subset of The Com that became Scattered Spider, alongside Noah Michael Urban, sentenced to 10 years in Florida, and Tyler Robert Buchanan, a Scot awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty in April.
The crew social-engineered credentials out of help desks and corporate staff, then mined the stolen data for employees holding cryptocurrency wallets worth millions. The indictment named at least 12 victim companies across entertainment, telecom, technology, outsourcing, IT and cloud, plus three Southern California businesses. Prosecutors detailed 29 compromised victims. Three thefts stand out: nearly $6.35 million in September 2021, $571,000 in June 2022 and almost $1.7 million in December 2022.
The forfeiture request totals about $17.6 million, including more than $14.19 million in Bitcoin, more than $3.4 million in Ethereum and almost $63,000 in cash. Officials also want three luxury vehicles, a golf cart, a painting of Muhammad Ali, luxury watches, gold jewelry, designer bags and 150 pairs of shoes. The plea terms themselves have not been published.
Scattered Spider’s early leadership has been steadily removed from circulation, but prosecutors say newer members keep working the same social engineering playbook against help desks. Identity verification before a password reset remains the control that matters most.
