Man who stole $5M in cryptocurrency via SIM swap pleads guilty

[Spartan]

A 20-year-old Massachusetts man who recently accepted a plea deal with prosecutors in Santa Clara County, California, is believed to be the first person in the US to be convicted of SIM swapping.

 

The SIM swapping technique allows a person to fool a mobile carrier into transferring someone else’s number to them—thus enabling possible account hijacking or other password resets that rely on the phone number itself as an authentication device. According to Vice Motherboard, which first reported the case, accused SIM swapper Joel Ortiz recently accepted a plea deal of 10 years—but it is not immediately clear which counts he pled guilty to.

Last year, Ortiz faced a 28-count indictment outlining alleged violations involving a slew of computer crimes and violations of personal identifying information law. In a police report provided to Ars, Ortiz victimized at least 22 people nationwide, including one man named Seth Shapiro, who lost $1.7 million in cryptocurrency. Ortiz is believed to have stolen a total of around $5 million using this technique.

With their success in the Ortiz case, prosecutors are continuing to investigate similar crimes. "Each arrest that we made sent shockwaves through that community," Erin West, a Santa Clara County deputy district attorney told Vice Motherboard. "That they weren’t safe in their basement, they weren't safe in their room in their mom’s house, that they were being tracked down and arrested—one by one."

[rapchik]

5 minutes ago, Spartan said:

A 20-year-old Massachusetts man who recently accepted a plea deal with prosecutors in Santa Clara County, California, is believed to be the first person in the US to be convicted of SIM swapping.

 

The SIM swapping technique allows a person to fool a mobile carrier into transferring someone else’s number to them—thus enabling possible account hijacking or other password resets that rely on the phone number itself as an authentication device. According to Vice Motherboard, which first reported the case, accused SIM swapper Joel Ortiz recently accepted a plea deal of 10 years—but it is not immediately clear which counts he pled guilty to.

Last year, Ortiz faced a 28-count indictment outlining alleged violations involving a slew of computer crimes and violations of personal identifying information law. In a police report provided to Ars, Ortiz victimized at least 22 people nationwide, including one man named Seth Shapiro, who lost $1.7 million in cryptocurrency. Ortiz is believed to have stolen a total of around $5 million using this technique.

With their success in the Ortiz case, prosecutors are continuing to investigate similar crimes. "Each arrest that we made sent shockwaves through that community," Erin West, a Santa Clara County deputy district attorney told Vice Motherboard. "That they weren’t safe in their basement, they weren't safe in their room in their mom’s house, that they were being tracked down and arrested—one by one."

illane aa USICS or Tax fruad edhavalani kuda kapadalani korukuntuna 

[Pumpuhaar]

Idey pedda bokka with cryptos....vaadu just tip of iceberg millions unnaru itla hackers....therefore banks and Govts will never allow crypto to rule 

[uttermost]

this person deserves an award for being a genius and a brave person.

the appropriate punishment is to make him provide services to the victim, worth the crypto he stole.

jailing a creative and rebellious person, is what is wrong with the stupid mediocre society.

99% of who trash him, will never reach 1% of his genius level. lol people.

[k2s]

6 hours ago, Spartan said:

A 20-year-old Massachusetts man who recently accepted a plea deal with prosecutors in Santa Clara County, California, is believed to be the first person in the US to be convicted of SIM swapping.

 

The SIM swapping technique allows a person to fool a mobile carrier into transferring someone else’s number to them—thus enabling possible account hijacking or other password resets that rely on the phone number itself as an authentication device. According to Vice Motherboard, which first reported the case, accused SIM swapper Joel Ortiz recently accepted a plea deal of 10 years—but it is not immediately clear which counts he pled guilty to.

Last year, Ortiz faced a 28-count indictment outlining alleged violations involving a slew of computer crimes and violations of personal identifying information law. In a police report provided to Ars, Ortiz victimized at least 22 people nationwide, including one man named Seth Shapiro, who lost $1.7 million in cryptocurrency. Ortiz is believed to have stolen a total of around $5 million using this technique.

With their success in the Ortiz case, prosecutors are continuing to investigate similar crimes. "Each arrest that we made sent shockwaves through that community," Erin West, a Santa Clara County deputy district attorney told Vice Motherboard. "That they weren’t safe in their basement, they weren't safe in their room in their mom’s house, that they were being tracked down and arrested—one by one."

oka sim pm pls

[uttermost]

6 hours ago, Pumpuhaar said:

Idey pedda bokka with cryptos....vaadu just tip of iceberg millions unnaru itla hackers....therefore banks and Govts will never allow crypto to rule 

entire economy is a ponzi scheme, that favours only mostly those who are in the right class, and agree to give up their freedom in exchange for comfort.

its fine if every bank account is hacked, and all money stolen from it. may be then people will realise that money, govt, rules, nation are all made up things to keep them in perpetual slavery.

slavery to money. banks, govts won't allow crypto to rule because it undermines their reach. Even banks can be stolen from. money is essentially worthless without the ingenuity of the person who wants it.

[uttermost]

6 hours ago, rapchik said:

illane aa USICS or Tax fruad edhavalani kuda kapadalani korukuntuna 

nenu maatram ilaaney inkoka 1000 accounts nundi dabbulu 10geyaali.. ee saari doraka kudadhu ani korukunta.