Orr Man Indicted for “Cryptojacking” Scheme

A northeastern Minnesota man has been indicted for a scheme that caused significant financial losses. 

According to U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger, 44 year old Joshua Paul Armbrust of Orr engaged in an illegal “cryptojacking” scheme using accounts belonging to his former employer to use someone else’s computing resources to mine cryptocurrency, such as Bitcoin or Ethereum, by leveraging the victim’s hardware, which can lead to reduced system performance, increased energy consumption, and higher operating costs.

As part of the scheme, Armbrust remotely accessed the Amazon Web Services account of his former employer, Digital River on multiple occasions between December 2020 and May 2021 without authorization, and utilized computers to mine Ethereum cryptocurrency. This unauthorized access resulted in substantial costs for the company, totaling more than $45,000. The mined Ethereum was directed into a digital wallet and subsequently transferred to two Coinbase accounts registered solely in Armbrust’s name. Armbrust then liquidated the mined Ethereum and transferred the proceeds to his Wells Fargo banking account.

The indictment charges Armbrust with one count of computer fraud.