Massachusetts Men Sentenced to Prison for Crypto Theft using SIM-Swapping

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Massachusetts Men Sentenced to Prison for Crypto Theft using SIM-Swapping

<p>Two Massachusetts men were sentenced on Wednesday for using SIM-swapping and other hacking techniques to <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/news/hackers-steal-nearly-320-million-worth-of-crypto-assets-from-wormhole/" target="_blank">steal cryptocurrencies</a> as well as controlling victims' social media accounts.</p><p>According to a press release from the Department of Justice, 24-year-old Eric Meiggs and 22-year-old Declan Harrington targeted executives of cryptocurrency exchanges, who have a high chance of holding a large number of cryptos. In addition, they targeted high-value social media profiles.</p><p>The perpetrators illegally took control of the online accounts of the victims for stealing high-value things like <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/terms/c/cryptocurrencies/" target="_blank" id="b091101e-6e02-4b36-aa0e-7c972dfdd6ed_2" class="terms__main-term">cryptocurrencies</a>. They allegedly siphoned around $330,000 in cryptocurrencies from at least ten victims.</p><p>For the crimes, Meiggs has been sentenced to two years and one day in prison, while Harrington has been imprisoned for two years and seven days.</p><p>An Infamous Hacking Technique</p><p>SIM-swapping is an infamous technique used by criminals to gain control of victims' phone numbers and thus access online accounts.</p><p>"In 'SIM swapping', cybercriminals convince a victim's cell phone carrier to reassign the victim's cell phone number from the SIM card (Subscriber Identity Module card) inside the victim's cell phone to the SIM card inside a cell phone controlled by the cybercriminals," the Department of Justice explained.</p><p>"Cybercriminals then pose as the victim with an online account provider and request that the provider send account password-reset links or an authentication code to the SIM-swapped device now controlled by the cybercriminals. The cybercriminals can then reset the victim's account log-in credentials and use the log-in credentials to access the victim's account without authorization, or 'hack into' the account."</p><p>Multiple mobile carriers in the United States have also <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/news/crypto-theft-victim-sues-t-mobile-for-allowing-sim-swap-attack/" target="_blank">faced lawsuits</a> by the victims of SIM swappings. Despite many precautions by telecom operators, such scams are very hard to prevent.</p><p>Earlier this year, YouTube accounts of multiple crypto influencers were <a href="https://www.financemagnates.com/cryptocurrency/news/youtube-accounts-of-several-crypto-influencers-hacked/" target="_blank">compromised using SIM-swapping</a>. However, that incident only resulted in promotions of scams and did not result in a high-value theft.</p>

This article was written by Arnab Shome at www.financemagnates.com.

Source: Massachusetts Men Sentenced to Prison for Crypto Theft using SIM-Swapping