A Teen Has Been Arrested for Allegedly Hacking into MGM Resorts and Caesars, Causing $100 Million in Losses

A teenager has been arrested for allegedly hacking into several Las Vegas casinos.

“Between August 2023 and October 2023, multiple Las Vegas casino properties became the targets of sophisticated network intrusions,” the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department confirmed in a press release on Friday, Sept. 19.

Authorities said the incidents “were attributed to an organized cyber threat-actor group known by several names, including ‘Scattered Spider,’ ‘Octo Tempest,’ ‘UNC3944,’ and/or ‘0ktapus.'”

Following an investigation led by the FBI’s Las Vegas Cyber Task Force, “a teenage male” emerged “as a suspect in the case.” On Wednesday, Sept. 17, he “surrendered himself” to authorities and was booked on multiple charges, including extortion.

According to KTLA and SFGATE, the targeted properties included Caesars and MGM Resorts, which reported losses of around $100 million due to the cyberattacks.

PEOPLE has reached out to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, MGM Resorts, Caesars Entertainment, and the FBI Las Vegas for further comment.

The suspect allegedly posed as an MGM Grand employee he found on LinkedIn, asking the company’s IT department to reset his password, SFGATE reported. According to Forbes, he gained access to MGM’s internal systems in “10 minutes” after the password reset.

The attack reportedly disrupted hotel key cards and slot machines, blocked bookings, and prevented employees from accessing their emails, SFGATE noted.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing submitted on Oct. 5, 2023, MGM stated it had lost approximately $100 million during the “cyber security issue in September.”

Caesars also reported a cyberattack in an SEC filing submitted around the same time. The company said it took “steps to ensure that the stolen data is deleted by the unauthorized actor, although we cannot guarantee this result,” according to SFGATE.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan PD confirmed that the teen “surrendered himself to the Clark County Juvenile Detention Center, where he was booked” on multiple charges.

The teenager faces three counts of “Obtaining and Using Personal Identifying Information of Another Person to Harm or Impersonate Person,” one count of “Extortion,” one count of “Conspiracy to Commit Extortion,” and one count of “Unlawful Acts Regarding Computers.”

“The Clark County District Attorney’s Office is seeking to transfer the juvenile to the criminal division, where he would face these charges as an adult,” police said.