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Fake Uber driver allegedly stole thousands in crypto
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. - A man is accused of several felony charges after he allegedly posed as an Uber driver and then stole hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency from customers in Scottsdale.
It was outside The W Scottsdale near Camelback and Scottsdale roads where police say Nuruhussein Hussein picked up two victims – one in March and one in October.
Authorities say he pretended to be an Uber driver with the hidden motive of stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars in crypto.
Prosecutors say the alleged scheme started, in both cases, with Hussein verbally calling out the names of supposed Uber passengers who he saw waiting for their rides. Court documents didn't say how Hussein knew the names of the victims who were waiting for Uber rides.
Once the victims were inside the car, court documents allege he had two different ways of getting the victims' phones. He'd either start by saying his phone was dead or messed up, or by offering to help troubleshoot the Uber app when it said one of the victim's drivers had not arrived.
Once the phone was in his hands, court documents say he was able to transfer a combined $223,000 dollars in cryptocurrency from their Coinbase accounts either by phone to phone transfer, or from the phone to cold storage.
The victim in March told police when they asked for their phone back, Hussein gave a concerning response.
Nuruhussein Hussein
"He made threats to one of the victims that they needed to chill or something bad would happen, and the victim believed that he had a gun, although he did not see a weapon at that time," court docs say.
Due to the alleged threats and the level of skill shown in the fraud, prosecutors pushed for a cash-only bond of $200,000.
"If Mr. Hussein is able to post bond, we'd ask for electronic monitoring, and I'd also ask for no use of the internet. Given that this was an extremely sophisticated electronic fraud, we do not want Mr. Hussein to potentially destroy further evidence if it exists," a prosecutor said.
The state also argued that Hussein is a flight risk due to frequent trips to Ethiopia.
"You are not to leave Maricopa County. That is part of my order today," the judge said. "I understand the state saying that you do go back and forth. You have to stay here."
The judge placed Hussein under a $200,000 secured bond, and he will be under electronic monitoring if he bonds out. His next appearance in court is set for later in December.
FOX 10 reached out to Uber, and it said it doesn't have a spokesperson available for comment, but offered safety resources.
What is the Scottsdale Police Department saying?
The police department says officers arrested Hussein on Dec. 11. He was booked into jail on suspicion of felony charges, including theft, fraud schemes, and money laundering.
"Detectives from the Scottsdale Police Department and Special Agents from the United States Secret Service Phoenix Field Office arrested a suspect and served search warrants in a cryptocurrency fraud scheme. In this scheme, between March 2024 and December 2024, the suspect pretended to be an Uber driver and picked up victims who were waiting for an Uber at a hotel in Scottsdale," the department said to FOX 10 on Dec. 12.
The department says the thefts totaled more than $300,000, although court documents say it was around $223,000.