An Oregon man is among eight individuals from four states indicted by a federal grand jury yesterday for stealing more than $1 million in a nationwide scheme to defraud two mobile shopping service companies.

Abdulkadir Mohamed Ali (31) of Portland, along with seven other individuals, is charged with eight counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and aiding and abetting.

The indictment alleges that the defendants, from Oregon, California, Ohio, and Michigan, set up a phishing scheme targeting mobile shopping service companies in California and Alabama.

Defendants Fraudulently Gained Control of Shoppers’ Accounts

The defendants obtained a stolen list of shoppers’ accounts, both active and inactive, and fraudulently gained control of the accounts. They allegedly placed fictitious customer orders using the mobile app, and then impersonated the shoppers and accepted the fictitious orders.

This action then prompted the mobile app to load funds onto the shoppers’ digital debit cards to fulfill the orders. Acting as the shopper, defendants enter a store and buy gift cards instead of the items that had been ordered. They would then simultaneously cancel the customer order.

The defendants would then allegedly use the gift cards to purchase cryptocurrency, which they converted to U.S. dollars, or to complete online orders for their own benefit.

Abdulkadir Mohamed Ali was arrested yesterday in Portland, and his co-conspirators were arrested in Ohio, Michigan, and California and all eight defendants appeared in a federal district court yesterday.

The individuals are released on bond and are scheduled to appear in the Oakland federal district court on August 25 before Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna M. Ryu.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kenneth Chambers and Evan Mateer are prosecuting the case, assisted by Amala James and Andy Ding. The case was investigated by the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service.