Hushpuppi commits a new  $400k fraud from inside US prison

Hushpuppi, a popular Instagram celebrity, has been charged again after US prosecutors submitted court documents detailing how he committed fraud and laundered over $400k from behind bars.

On March 16, 2022, US prosecutors presented documents to the United States District Court of California with new evidence indicting HushPuppi of fraud and money laundering in a US Federal correctional facility.

According to court documents, Hushpuppi participated in the purchase and laundering of Economic Impact Payment debit cards obtained fraudulently from stolen data of US citizens and residents while incarcerated in a US Federal correctional facility.

According to the CARES Act, Economic Impact Payments are financial assistance provided by the US government to US residents.

One of the ways eligible US residents receive their Economic Impact Payments is by debit cards. From the documents presented in court, it was found that hackers use data of U.S residents to file and obtain Economic Impact Payments debit cards. They sell off these EIP cards in underground marketplaces to other cyber criminals.

In the court document, US prosecutors mentioned that inmates are allowed access to phone calls, video calls, the internet, and computers with limited usage but they are not monitored because inmates have right to their privacy. Hushpuppi also received this access like other inmates.

However, security officers at a US Federal correctional facility observed Hushpuppi using the internet more frequently between the 28th of January and the 4th of March 2022. They obtained a warrant to record Hushpuppi’s activities after learning that he had been arrested for internet-related crimes. A special system was set up for him, and his activities were tracked for seven days.

Hushpuppi was discovered to be actively purchasing EIP debit cards from an underground cyber criminal marketplace called StimulusCard (“https://stimuluscard.com/”). Hushpuppi purchased 58 EIP debit cards worth $429,800 on the site while being recorded and laundered the money through one AJ.

StimulusCard.com is the source.