The US may have uncovered the nation’s largest “SIM swap” scheme yet, charging a Chicago man and co-conspirators with allegedly stealing $400 million in cryptocurrency by targeting over 50 victims in more than a dozen states, including one company.
Once the swap occurs, the bad actor can defeat multi-factor authentication protections and access online accounts to steal data or money.
Powell’s accused crew allegedly used identification card printers to forge documents, then posed as victims visiting Apple, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile retail stores in Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Utah, Nebraska, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Texas, New Mexico, Tennessee, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
When Powell’s alleged scheme began in 2021, the FBI issued a warning, noting that criminals were increasingly using SIM-swap attacks, fueling total losses that year of $68 million.
Since then, US law enforcement has made several arrests, but none of the uncovered schemes come close to the alleged losses from the thefts Powell’s crew are being accused of.
In October, the Department of Justice sentenced a hacker, Jordan Dave Persad, to 30 months for stealing nearly $1 million from “dozens of victims.”
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The US may have uncovered the nation’s largest “SIM swap” scheme yet, charging a Chicago man and co-conspirators with allegedly stealing $400 million in cryptocurrency by targeting over 50 victims in more than a dozen states, including one company.
Once the swap occurs, the bad actor can defeat multi-factor authentication protections and access online accounts to steal data or money.
Powell’s accused crew allegedly used identification card printers to forge documents, then posed as victims visiting Apple, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile retail stores in Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Utah, Nebraska, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Texas, New Mexico, Tennessee, Virginia, and the District of Columbia.
When Powell’s alleged scheme began in 2021, the FBI issued a warning, noting that criminals were increasingly using SIM-swap attacks, fueling total losses that year of $68 million.
Since then, US law enforcement has made several arrests, but none of the uncovered schemes come close to the alleged losses from the thefts Powell’s crew are being accused of.
In October, the Department of Justice sentenced a hacker, Jordan Dave Persad, to 30 months for stealing nearly $1 million from “dozens of victims.”
The original article contains 846 words, the summary contains 185 words. Saved 78%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!