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Trenton Johnston — Crypto Social Engineering Theft Ring

avoid.net/trenton-johnston-crypto-social-engineering-theft-ring→2/100·92% conf.
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anchored·5xxqu8…935P

Summary

Trenton Richard David Johnston, a 20-year-old Canadian national, pleaded guilty on June 10, 2026 in U.S. District Court (Southern District of Florida) to conspiracy to commit money laundering in connection with a social engineering scheme that caused losses exceeding $13 million in cryptocurrency. Johnston operated as part of a broader theft ring — connected to 'The Com' hacker network — alongside co-conspirators including Miami resident Brandon Michael Tardibone and an uncharged individual identified by blockchain investigator ZachXBT as Dritan Kapllani Jr., who is alleged to be linked to approximately $19 million in total social engineering thefts. The scheme involved impersonating support representatives from Google, Trezor, and other crypto companies to trick victims into surrendering access to their digital wallets.

Connected Entities

9 entities · 60 linked investigations
Organizations
□Ethereum64□Trenton Johnston — Crypto Social Engineering Theft Ring□John Daghita (aka Lick) — US Marshals Crypto Theft□Brandon Michael Tardibone□Trezor□ZachXBT□Monero
Tokens
♦Coinbase♦Bitcoin
Relationships
  • John Daghita (aka Lick) — US Marshals Crypto Theft→mentioned with→Ethereum(65%)
  • Ethereum→mentioned with→Coinbase(60%)
  • John Daghita (aka Lick) — US Marshals Crypto Theft→mentioned with→ZachXBT(70%)
  • Ethereum→mentioned with→Bitcoin(60%)
  • Monero→mentioned with→Bitcoin(60%)
  • Monero→mentioned with→ZachXBT(65%)
  • ZachXBT→mentioned with→Ethereum(70%)
  • ZachXBT→mentioned with→Bitcoin(65%)
  • Brandon Michael Tardibone→mentioned with→ZachXBT(70%)
  • Brandon Michael Tardibone→mentioned with→Trezor(60%)
  • + 14 more
Also appears in
Ethereum·64Lendf.me·30Levyathan·18Jump Trading·42StableMagnet·2Shibarium·28Bankr·18Nexera·32Sky (MakerDAO)·51BearnFi·12

Connected Through

8 shared actors · 624 investigations

Distinct actors this investigation shares with others — holders, traders, and named parties. Shared infrastructure (exchanges, pools) is excluded.

Have evidence about Trenton Johnston — Crypto Social Engineering Theft Ring?

Timeline(9 events)

August 2025

Alleged social engineering thefts begin accumulating in a second wallet attributed by ZachXBT to CC-1 (alleged Dritan Kapllani Jr.), eventually totaling approximately $5.85 million across five incidents through October 2025.

Crypto Times / ZachXBT analysis

October 2024

Trenton Richard David Johnston enters the United States from Canada (Fort Erie, Ontario to Buffalo, New York) on a one-year tourist visa.

CBC News

13 March 2026

A California-based victim receives two fraudulent calls from individuals impersonating Google and Trezor representatives, who claim someone is attempting to access the victim's crypto wallet and persuade the victim to surrender account access codes.

CBC News / DOJ court filings

14 March 2026

185 Bitcoin (approximately $13 million) is stolen from the California victim. Signal messages recovered by investigators show Johnston writing 'We actually smacked a 185 BTC target today' to a co-conspirator. On-chain analysis traces funds through multiple Bitcoin and Ethereum wallets within hours of the theft.

Benzinga / Crypto Times / ZachXBT

March 2026

Johnston is arrested during a traffic stop in North Miami while riding as a passenger in a white Rolls-Royce Cullinan. Deputies detect marijuana odor and find 21 suspected amphetamine tablets in a Hermes bag. His unlawful immigration status is identified, triggering federal investigation.

CBC News / IRS Criminal Investigation

23 April 2026

ZachXBT breakthrough: an individual alleged to be Dritan Kapllani Jr. screen-shares his Exodus wallet on a Discord call, displaying approximately $3.68 to $4.17 million. ZachXBT identifies his Ethereum address from the recording and publishes on-chain tracing connecting the wallet to the 185 BTC theft.

Crypto Times / ZachXBT

11 May 2026

A federal grand jury in the Southern District of Florida returns an indictment against Trenton Richard David Johnston and Brandon Michael Tardibone. The DOJ and IRS Criminal Investigation publicly announce the charges. Dritan Kapllani Jr. is identified as Co-Conspirator 1 in the court complaint but is not formally charged.

DOJ / IRS Criminal Investigation

12 May 2026

ZachXBT publishes public report tying Dritan Kapllani Jr. to approximately $19 million in social engineering thefts, including the 185 BTC incident. Reports note Kapllani begins moving approximately $2.59 million in funds following his exposure.

Crypto Times / Cryptopolitan

10 June 2026

Trenton Richard David Johnston pleads guilty in U.S. District Court in Miami to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Brandon Michael Tardibone also pleads guilty to the same charge. Johnston agrees to deportation to Canada following sentencing. Prosecutors seek 51–63 months for Johnston and 27–33 months for Tardibone.

CBC News / Benzinga / Crypto.news
Provenance & Audit Trail
Anchored on SolanaVerify on-chain16 Wayback Archives

Decision Log

This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (1 event). 16 of 16 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.

full audit log →version history →

model: claude-sonnet-4-6

generated: 7/2/2026, 12:26:48 PM

last updated: 9/16/2026, 5:34:27 PM

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