Oxford Student Jailed After Stealing $2.4 Million Through Crypto Scam
Wybo Wiersma – a 40-year-old Oxford University graduate – has been sentenced to four and a half years in prison after scamming over $2 million in crypto from unsuspecting victims. Following his arrest in 2019, the Dutchman was extradited from the Netherlands back to the United Kingdom (UK) in 2021. Following a five-year investigation by the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (SEROCU), he pled guilty on January 26 to the Oxford Crown Court. A Five-Year Investigation As reported by the Daily Mail , Wiersma’s scam involved setting up a fake website for people to invest in IOTA – the 71st largest cryptocurrency by market cap. Though the crypto’s price plummeted after rallying in 2017, its team still has a presence in the EU surrounding R&D for future blockchain services. Wiersma’s scheme played out during IOTA’s time in the sun, The site prompted users to “randomly” generate an 81-character IOTA password by moving their mouse around their screen. In reality, such pass...