A former US Army soldier has been sentenced to 70 months in federal prison for participating in a hacking and extortion campaign that targeted telecommunications companies and exposed sensitive phone records.
Cameron John Wagenius, 22, was also ordered to pay $294,978 in restitution. The cybercrime operation ran from April 2023 until December 2024, including a period when Wagenius was still serving on active duty in the Army.
Using online accounts associated with the alias “kiberphant0m,” Wagenius worked with other hackers to obtain login credentials for protected networks belonging to at least 10 organizations. The group used several methods to obtain access, including a hacking tool called SSH Brute that Wagenius helped develop.
The conspirators exchanged stolen credentials through Telegram and discussed ways to gain unauthorized access to corporate networks. Once inside victim systems, they stole sensitive information and attempted to pressure companies into paying ransoms.
Some extortion attempts were conducted privately, while others involved public threats to release stolen information on cybercrime forums including BreachForums and XSS.is. Stolen data was also offered for sale for thousands of dollars, and prosecutors said some of it was successfully sold.
The group attempted to extort at least $1 million from organizations whose information had been compromised. Stolen records were additionally used for other crimes, including SIM-swapping attacks.
Wagenius escalated the campaign in November 2024 by publishing confidential non-content call detail records belonging to a US government official and relatives of another former government official. He threatened to release additional records unless a ransom was paid. Prosecutors said one of his posts suggested the threat was partly retaliation for the recent arrest of another cybercriminal.
Authorities also said Wagenius attempted to sell stolen information to a foreign intelligence service. The Justice Department did not identify the country involved in its sentencing announcement.
Wagenius pleaded guilty in July 2025 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, extortion in relation to computer fraud and aggravated identity theft. In a separate case, he had already pleaded guilty to two counts involving the unlawful transfer of confidential phone records.
The investigation involved the FBI and Defense Criminal Investigative Service, with assistance from the US Army Criminal Investigation Division and other federal authorities. Wagenius will now serve nearly six years in federal prison for a campaign prosecutors say combined network intrusions, data theft, public extortion and attempts to traffic stolen information.