⚠️JUST IN: Crypto “Godfather” Adam Iza Pleads Guilty to Orchestrating Kidnapping Over $245M Bitcoin Heist

25-year-old Adam Iza, also known as Ahmed Faiq, a California-based cryptocurrency mogul who referred to himself as “The Godfather,” pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to interfere with commerce by robbery. Federal prosecutors are seeking at least 14 years in prison.

The case stems from an August 2024 carjacking in Danbury, Connecticut, where six men pulled a couple — Sushil and Radhika Chetal — from their Lamborghini SUV in broad daylight, beat them with a baseball bat, dragged the woman by her hair, bound them with duct tape, and forced them into a white van. An off-duty FBI agent and multiple witnesses called police, leading to a chase, crash, and all six suspects being arrested.

The couple’s son, Veer Chetal, had stolen 4,100 Bitcoin (~$245M) from a Washington, D.C. resident weeks earlier by impersonating Google and crypto exchange support staff. He and two accomplices spent millions on cars, jewelry, mansions, and nightclub parties before being arrested. Iza orchestrated the parents’ kidnapping to extort a share of the stolen crypto.

Before the kidnapping charges, Iza was already under federal investigation in California for running an extortion operation out of a Bel Air mansion. He paid ~$100K/month to a private security firm staffed by off-duty LA County sheriff’s deputies, using them as personal enforcers — intimidating rivals, running illegal database searches, obtaining fraudulent warrants, and in one case holding a victim at gunpoint to force a $25,000 transfer.

Iza also admitted to stealing over $37 million by fraudulently accessing Meta Platforms’ business manager accounts and lines of credit between 2020 and 2022. He pleaded guilty to wire fraud, conspiracy against rights, and tax evasion in that case. He also reportedly spent money on cosmetic surgery to lengthen his legs.

All six Florida men who carried out the kidnapping have pleaded guilty. Two have been sentenced to 11 years. Two alleged co-conspirators James Schwab and Iza’s brother Saif Faiq have pleaded not guilty.

The case is part of an increasing global trend of cryptocurrency theft spilling over into real-world violence, with physical attacks, kidnappings, and extortion becoming more common as the sums involved grow larger.

@arch

⚠️JUST IN: UK government announced an under-16 social media ban

Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister of United Kingdom has announced the Under-16 social media ban once again, as a refresher, only one could presume.

This proposed legislation follows the guidelines to exclude the under 16 year old demographic from accessing "user-to-user" platforms (ex. TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat; etc.), as well as exclude children from accessing livestreams. A "social media curfew" is also in the debate, planned to release in July 2027, to stop late-night doomscrolling for people under the age of 18.

Messaging apps such as Whatsapp, Signal; will not be affected, and can still be used by the under-16 group, but are regulated so that strangers are not able to message children.

Lawmakers have also tackled the problem of chatbots (especially bots that allow artificial romantic relationships). These features are now banished for people under the age of 18.

As of now, the timetable has been set. Legislation will be enforced before Christmas, and follow up with "protections" rolling out in Spring 2027.

@arch

⚠️JUST IN: Coinbase to unveil the next phase of its "Everything Exchange" during a major "Take Control" on a livestream today at 3:00PM EST.

The company is expected to showcase expanded trading capabilities across crypto, stocks, and commodities as it continues to broaden its financial services platform, as well as the main focus being helping users gain more control over their assets.

Over the recent months, Coinbase has made numerous updates within their application :
    
- Rollout of stock trading and prediction markets within the main app.
- Simplified access to futures and perpetual contracts.
- Day-one trading access for new Solana-based assets and participation in primary token sales.
- Launch of the global Base App, designed as an on-chain "everything app."
- US-regulated access to global crypto perpetual futures and options for institutional clients.

More details are expected during today's livestream.

@arch

⚠️JUST IN: Malware surge within a popular tool Wallpaper Engine

Cybersecurity company Kaspersky has stated, that malware is being spread via Wallpaper Engine, a popular customization utility found on Steam's marketplace.

The campaign has been ongoing since late 2025, primarily targeting Steam users from China and Russia; of course, users from other countries have been affected as well.

Malicious content essentially acts as an infostealer, stealing accounts and other credentials. Reports indicate that numerous amounts of infected wallpapers were found, totaling about tens of thousands in downloads.

@arch

⚠️JUST IN: NSA claimed that Anthropic's "Mythos" model breached their internal systems within hours

A senate hearing that happened on June 11 revealed that Sen. Mark Warner, vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence committee mentioned that the NSA and Cyber Command Chief Joshua Rudd, claimed that Anthropic's Mythos model, had breached NSA's internal classified systems within hours of testing.

No official details have been released, but supposedly, the NSA was red-teaming against their own infrastructure, and were quite surprised with the swift results. As of now, Fable 5's and Mythos' general use is still prohibited.

Could widespread access to powerful generative models shift the balance of power in cyber espionage between states?

@arch

⚠️JUST IN: Authorities have dismantled a Polish sim-swap group, 4 threat actors including "Merry" arrested

Polish CBZC officers, with support from the FBI and HSI (Homeland Security Investigations), have arrested four members of a international criminal group behind large-scale SIM-swap attacks, cryptocurrency theft and money laundering totalling tens of millions of zlotys. Among those detained is a significant figure known as "Merry" (Wojtek), believed to be a key member of the ring. All four are now in pretrial detention.

The group used social engineering and specialised software to hijack phone numbers and seize crypto exchange accounts. Stolen funds were laundered through international bank accounts and digital wallets. Charges carry sentences of up to 25 years.

@arch

⚠️JUST IN: Alleged member of Scattered Spider has been extradited to the United States

Department of Justice came out with a new press release regarding their new charges against Peter Stokes, a 19 year old presumed Scattered Spider member also known as "Bouquet". Court documents indicate that Stokes is being described in 4 intrusions, the first one happening when he was only 16 years old.

Peter was first apprehended back in April by Finnish authorities when he was about to board a flight from Helsinki Airport to Japan.

As of now, he has been extradited to the United States, where he stands before U.S. District Court in Chicago. He is facing federal conspiracy, cyber intrusion, and fraud offences.

The official Department of Justice statement following up on the situation.

@arch

⚠️JUST IN: A 19 year old Belgian arrested under the suspicion of running a phishing ring

Belgian federal police announced their apprehension of a 19 year old teenager from Antwerp. Authorities believe that he is one of the key members of a group, that specializes in Europe and runs organized phishing campaigns and engages in money laundering.

The investigation started in March 2026, organized by the Federal Judicial Police East Flanders. They describe a common fraud model of said group. Victims receive a call from a phony government official, which then triggers a call from a bank helpdesk, who persuades the victim to install remote access software. Afterwards, the fraudsters have free reign over the victim's financial accounts.

Authorities are speculating that the organization originates from the Netherlands, and runs part of their operations in Belgium.

@arch

⚠️JUST IN: Ransomware group LAPSUS$ has announced their retirement

A ransomware group LAPSUS$ has officially came out with a statement regarding their retirement from their operation.

Their message stays persistent on the fact that, said action was not a surrender nor a retreat; but more rather an announcement, that they have accomplished their goals and plans.

Read the full statement posted on their official website.

@arch

⚠️JUST IN: Signal's developers are working on a feature which allows for new users to register without a phone number

New modifications in Signal's public GitHub repository indicate that a new feature is in the works: paid optional sign-up, which allows new users to sign-up without a phone number.

The new feature will be a one-time purchase, not a reoccurring subscription. It is currently unknown, how much will the registration cost, and which payment methods will be available.

As of now, new update's release date is not yet publicly announced, but is expected to launch in the upcoming months.

@arch

⚠️JUST IN: Trezor confirmed a data breach involving 13000+ customers

Trezor has come forward with a statement, that a breach regarding customer data has occurred, more explicitly; one of their shipping providers were compromised.

ShipMonk - shipping provider, who suffered the breach, handled occasional shipments to customers from the regions of: US, UK, Sweden, Italy, Portugal, Brazil, Columbia.

As disclosed, the current exposure is as such: orders made between May 10 2026 and August 8 2026; (name, mail, number, address) of ~11000 customers, and partial information (name, mail, city) for ~2000 customers.

@arch

⚠️JUST IN: Trump Administration's new shift in U.S. cyber policy

Trump has signed a national security presidential memorandum, which gives the private sector permission to collaborate on cyber operations, and allows for offensive operations using "cyber tools" alongside federal LE.

Program introduced primarily targets the foreign cybercrime organizations causing harm to Americans, with attacks such as: ransomware attacks, financial fraud.

Federal Government would oversee, and vet specific private sector companies to said program. Associated companies would have the power to conduct "cyber surveillance operations" and "cyber effects operations" against targets.

Clarification on "cyber effects", according to the memo: "Cyber effects includes the potential manipulation, disruption, denial, degradation, or destruction of information systems, networks physical or virtual infrastructure controlled by information systems or information resident ... "

@arch

⚠️JUST IN: Trezor's e-mail provider has been breached

Trezor has came out with a public statement that their third-party e-mail provider has been compromised, which gave the attackers access over the official Trezor.io domain.
Phishing mails containing a "critical security alert" of a "STM32 Entropy Bug" are being sent to Trezor users.

Email features a "entropy check tool" as a link.

It is yet unclear, how the attackers gained access over the domain, but Trezor stated publicly that they have taken down the domain, and are actively investigating the incident.

@arch