A former Army soldier stationed in Texas has pleaded guilty to a hacking and extortion scheme targeting telecommunications companies. Cameron John Wagenius, 19, admitted to conspiring with others to hack into company databases, access sensitive records, and demand ransoms under the threat of releasing stolen data.
Court documents reveal that between April 2023 and December 18, 2024, Wagenius operated under the alias “kiberphant0m.” He conspired to defraud at least ten organizations by acquiring login credentials for their protected networks using a tool called SSH Brute. The group communicated through Telegram chats to exchange stolen credentials and discuss unauthorized network access while Wagenius was on active duty with the U.S. Army.
The conspirators threatened victim organizations both privately and publicly, warning they would post stolen data on cybercrime forums like BreachForums and XSS.is unless ransoms were paid. They sold some of this data for thousands of dollars and used it for further fraudulent activities such as SIM-swapping. In total, they attempted to extort at least $1 million from victims.
The announcement was made by Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew R. Galeotti of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller for the Western District of Washington; Special Agent in Charge W. Mike Herrington of the FBI Seattle Field Office; and Special Agent in Charge Kenneth DeChellis of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General, Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Cyber Field Office.
Wagenius pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, extortion related to computer fraud, and aggravated identity theft. His sentencing is scheduled for October 6, 2025. He faces up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud conspiracy, five years for extortion related to computer fraud, plus a mandatory two-year sentence consecutive for aggravated identity theft.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service are leading the investigation with assistance from various agencies including the U.S. Army’s Criminal Investigative Division and Flashpoint among others.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sok Tea Jiang along with Senior Counsel Louisa Becker and Trial Attorney George Brown are prosecuting this case.
