From Savior to Scammer: The Crypto King’s Fall

JACKSONVILLE, FL – From a young age, Noah Urban envisioned a future in law enforcement or the legal system, a path inspired by the television program “Psych,” dreaming of a career as a lawyer to “make life fairer.” At just ten years old, he was lauded as a “Citizen Hero” by the Longwood Police Department, near Orlando, after he bravely averted a potential car accident when his father experienced a sudden medical emergency and lost consciousness while driving.

Over the subsequent years, this same boy, remembered by family for his dedication to community service and helping at church – even convincing his mother to buy a meal for a homeless person he spotted from the car – found himself increasingly engrossed in the realm of online gaming, dedicating upwards of eight hours each day to playing and interacting with other gamers.

This immersion in gaming gradually extended into other online activities, ultimately leading to real-world repercussions: the targeting of companies, unauthorized access to sensitive data, and the exploitation of that data for cryptocurrency theft.

Now, at 21 years of age, the young man who once aspired to contribute to the criminal justice system through law enforcement finds himself entangled with it in a vastly different way – he has been handed a ten-year sentence in federal prison for committing cybercrimes, labeled as a “hacker.”

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Federal prosecutors stated that Urban and his accomplices illicitly obtained individuals’ private data and then used it to steal their cryptocurrency. Urban is now required to pay $13 million in restitution to victims across the country.

The Early Life of Noah Urban

A court document submitted by Urban’s federal public defender in August, before his sentencing, provides insights into his formative years. Born in South Carolina, he spent his childhood in central Florida. His parents divorced when he was two, and he spent his childhood moving between their homes, navigating a divorce characterized by “contentious and adversarial” relations that continue to this day.

Letters from Urban’s family paint a picture of a boy who cherished the outdoors, enjoying activities like hiking, kayaking, and whitewater rafting. He loved reading and was described as compassionate and giving, participating in community projects, assisting at church, and leading bingo games for senior citizens at a retirement home.

In a letter to the federal judge, Urban’s father recounts a memory from when his son was thirteen, describing how he learned that a local family was struggling during the holiday season. The teenager then gathered groceries, selected Christmas items, and performed extra chores to purchase new gifts. Urban’s father emphasizes that his son sought no recognition; he simply “wanted to ensure that family felt seen and cared for.”

Recognition for Heroic Actions

Urban harbored ambitions of becoming a lawyer, as documented in the sentencing memorandum prepared by his defense attorney. However, this aspiration evolved into a desire to become a police officer following an event that occurred when he was ten years old.

In November 2014, while riding in his father’s car, Urban’s father suffered a medical episode and began coughing to the point of losing consciousness. The vehicle, which was navigating a parking lot, started accelerating, colliding with a truck from behind and propelling it toward a busy street. From the passenger seat, Urban engaged the car’s parking brake, slowing its momentum and preventing the truck from being forced further into the roadway.

In recognition of this action, the Longwood Police Department bestowed upon him a “Citizen Hero Award,” an honor that included a proclamation from the mayor and a formal presentation ceremony.

In a letter recommending Urban for the award, a police sergeant stated, “Having served as a police officer for 27 years and a trainer for a significant portion of that time, I know that reaching the level of performance exhibited by Noah requires both discipline and training. Not only is his ability already at this high level, but he has also demonstrated it during the crash. Outstanding!”

‘It Felt Like a Game’

In 2020, as the COVID-19 pandemic transformed the world, Urban was a 15-year-old student. Court documents indicate that he left a central Florida high school and began homeschooling, eventually earning his diploma from Florida Virtual School in 2022.

Around this period, Urban connected with a group of other teenage boys, engaging in popular online games such as Minecraft and Call of Duty and communicating with them about the games and life in general through Discord. His sentencing memorandum reveals that he spent “hours upon hours” playing video games, a habit that eventually became a daily routine for several years. After he primarily lived with his father, he had “virtually unlimited” access to the internet and online gaming, playing video games for eight or more hours a day.

It was through these online gaming communities, communicating via Discord, that Urban was introduced to “SIM swapping,” according to his attorneys. This tactic involves stealing a person’s personal details and coordinating the transfer of their cell phone number to phones under another person’s control. Prosecutors said Urban and his accomplices would subsequently employ these swapped phones to gain unauthorized access to a person’s cryptocurrency account by resetting passwords and verifying identities through text message passwords.

Urban’s defense attorneys argue that the group would target companies by posing as employees and contacting their customer service or IT departments. They would feign needing help, and unsuspecting employees would grant them complete access to company data, which the boys would then use to create lists of individuals to target, believing that they had sizable crypto holdings.

“This was kind of like a game to them,” is how Urban’s lawyer described the actions of Urban and his online associates during Urban’s teenage years. According to the sentencing memo, he was still 17 when the FBI began issuing subpoenas to investigate him.

Was It ‘Real Money’?

According to Urban’s sentencing memo, he and his fellow conspirators, who were all teenage boys, preyed on people who had “significant” cryptocurrency holdings, under the assumption that they weren’t stealing “real money” needed for necessities like food and housing.

Cryptocurrency, a digital currency stored in a digital wallet, can be used to make payments or held as an investment. However, crypto accounts are not supported by a government, meaning that if there is a problem with the account or the funds, the government is not obligated to reimburse your money.

Urban used nearly all the cryptocurrency that he obtained to play online gambling games on a site based overseas. His attorneys point out that despite not being of legal gambling age, he could easily play through the use of a VPN, as there was no age verification process on the site.

At the sentencing hearing, Urban’s attorney claimed that video game culture and online video game currency, which plays a part in some of the games that Urban and his friends played, reinforces the notion that online money isn’t “real money.”

However, the cryptocurrency at the center of the scheme was used in the real world. Urban would exchange some of his crypto for cash, utilizing peer-to-peer services and crypto ATMs, which convert crypto to cash through third-party providers. Urban used the cash to pay rent and utilities after he moved out on his own at the age of 18.

The Impact on Victims

During Urban’s sentencing hearing in August, the judge read from victim impact statements submitted by some of the 60 identified victims of the scheme. Their stories revealed hardships, both financial and emotional.

One victim wrote, “For weeks, I woke up every night in cold sweats. I can’t overstate the emotional impact that this intrusion into my personal life has had on my peace of mind.”

Another victim, 72 years old at the time of the theft, explained that he lost a large portion of his retirement account. He ended up taking a job as a courier, which he performed for two years until he was physically unable to continue because of his injuries. That victim is now owed restitution of almost $58,000.

A 68-year-old retired firefighter wrote about trying to take all possible steps to avoid further intrusions into his life.

“I became extremely paranoid, and still am to a point,” he wrote. “I even questioned my next-door neighbor’s teenage son to see if he might have been involved. His parents took it very personally.” The retired firefighter added that questioning his neighbors led to the loss of their longtime friendship.

A Massachusetts man who is owed over $10,000 in restitution wrote that he had wanted to save money for his kids’ college education.

“The financial harm is real,” he wrote in his victim impact statement. “It eroded my sense of security, not just in digital systems but in my daily life.”

Another victim informed the judge that the loss of cryptocurrency was affecting their plans for a family. They had saved money for in vitro fertilization, but the loss impacted those funds, raising questions about how to cover costs that insurance doesn’t, which they wrote can reach into the six figures.

One Minnesota man flew to Jacksonville with the intention of speaking to the court during Urban’s sentencing. After speaking with the prosecutor before the hearing, he chose not to testify in person, allowing his written statements to stand. He lost over $400,000 at a time when his children were starting high school.

The Future for a Young Man

The young boy who once aspired to work in law enforcement, described by family as compassionate and generous, is now an inmate at FCI Tallahassee, a low-security federal prison in Florida’s capital city.

Noah Urban spoke to the court during his sentencing before his punishment was determined.

“I would like to apologize to the victims of my crime, to the court, and to my family. I know what I did was wrong. I stole from people, and there is no excuse. There is nothing I can say. There is no justification that will make it right,” Urban told the judge. He continued by stating that he was focused on and committed to improving himself.

Following this, the federal prosecutor made his closing comments, saying that he believed Urban when he said that he wished to set things right. He also pointed out that, during the course of the crypto thefts, Urban and his accomplices got around the two-factor authentication, a security measure that has become common for everything from financial accounts to social media. Typically, this involves sending a text message, push alert, or email to a separate device to confirm one’s identity.

“I don’t think Mr. Urban is a bad person. He’s – I think he has potential,” the prosecutor said. “But this was greed and this online culture, whatever you want to call it, and this desire to – to hack and steal.”