Remington Ogletree was arrested in California in late October and charged with wire fraud related to alleged crimes committed between October 2023 and May 2024.
While Ogletree’s direct involvement in earlier Scattered Spider hacks remains unconfirmed, investigators suspect he played a role in phishing campaigns central to the group’s operations.
Scattered Spider, a loosely organised collective of young hackers primarily based in the US and UK, is known for using social engineering and phishing tactics to breach corporate networks.
One of their most disruptive attacks to date targeted MGM Resorts in September 2023, resulting in an estimated $100m in losses.
The hackers, reportedly collaborating with the ransomware group ALPHV, caused days of operational chaos for MGM’s casinos and demanded a ransom for restoring access to critical files.Not the first arrest
Ogletree’s arrest is part of a broader law enforcement push to weaken Scattered Spider’s network.
The alleged mastermind of the MGM hack was arrested in a joint Spanish-FBI operation earlier this year.
However, recent indictments have implicated five additional alleged members in a hacking campaign that stole sensitive data and over $11m in cryptocurrency.
It’s conceivable that the subsequent arrests have been facilitated through deals being made from prior arrests.
Riot Games, identified as one of the victims in that case, declined to comment when contacted by Bloomberg.
