FBI Says Steam Malware-Laced Games Led to $220K Crypto Theft
FBI Says Steam Malware-Laced Games Led to $220K Crypto Theft
The FBI traced an alleged Steam malware scheme through crypto payments and Uber Eats gift cards.
Highlights
- The alleged malware scheme infected about 8K devices and stole at least $220K from roughly 80 crypto wallets.
- The FBI linked Wilkins to the operation by tracing cryptocurrency payments and Uber Eats gift cards.
- Several games cited in the complaint were previously identified by the FBI in connection with malware distributed through Steam.
A trail of cryptocurrency payments and Uber Eats gift cards helped the FBI identify a 21-year-old Florida man accused of involvement in a malware scheme. The operation allegedly infected about 8K devices and stole at least $220K USD from roughly 80 cryptocurrency wallets.
Zyaire Dontaevious Zamarion Wilkins allegedly helped finance and market the operation. The group distributed malware through eight video games between May 2024 and February 2026.
The federal complaint does not name the storefront. It describes a gaming distribution company based in Washington state. However, Dashverse, PirateFi, BlockBlasters, Lunara, and Lampy appear in the complaint. The FBI previously identified the same titles in a March 2026 notice concerning malware distributed through Steam.
Investigators say the group promoted the games on Telegram, Discord, X, and LinkedIn. Bots were also allegedly used to identify and contact people with large cryptocurrency holdings. Once installed, the malware collected credentials and private data used to access cryptocurrency accounts.
Gift Card Trail Helped FBI Identify Wilkins
The investigation initially focused on an unnamed developer whose devices were seized in February 2026. Signal messages showed coordination with a user called "Sibel.eth." The conversations allegedly covered a $10K remote access trojan and cryptocurrency "draining" campaigns.
Investigators linked the alias to Wilkins by tracing Bitcoin payments to a Bitrefill account. It had purchased more than 150 gift cards, including Uber Eats cards. A connected Uber account placed over 500 food orders worth more than $9K. Some of the Uber Eats gift cards were allegedly used for orders linked to Wilkins' University of West Florida student email address.
During a July 8, 2026, search of Wilkins' residence, agents seized laptops, phones, and three cryptocurrency wallet seed phrases. One seed phrase was linked to a Monero wallet with eight associated cryptocurrency addresses. Investigators said Wilkins had sent or received approximately 1,233 XMR, worth about $382K, through the wallet.
The alleged thefts included money raised for streamer RastalandTV's stage 4 cancer treatment. Wilkins is charged with conspiracy to obtain information by computer for private financial gain.
The allegations have not been proven in court yet.
Author
Probaho Santra is a content writer at Outlook India with a master’s degree in journalism. Outside work, he enjoys photography, exploring new tech trends, and staying connected with the esports world.
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