A college student steals millions of digital coins by stealing SIM cards

A 20-year-old US university student has been arrested and charged with being part of a gang that broke cell phone numbers to steal more than $ 5 million from pettin and other digital currencies. According to Tech News, citing court documents, Joel Ortiz, 20, from Boston, was charged with stealing more than 40 phone numbers with the help of some of his accomplices. Court documents said Ortiz and his associates specifically targeted people involved in digital currency and the Biloxin. It is alleged that the group targeted several individuals during the Consensus Conference in New York City in May 2018.

Details of the hacking process

The break-in was deceived by mobile service providers such as AT & T, Verizon and T-Mobile. The group allegedly contacted the victim's mobile phone service providers to request new SIM cards, claiming they had lost the cards. Once the telephone service providers have verified their identity, the old numbers have been moved to other SIM cards (already owned by the group).

Trace the crime and capture the intruder

The search for the criminal gang began when one of the victims, who preferred not to be identified, reported that his mobile phone number had been stolen. Ortiz had targeted the victim earlier this year with another university student to penetrate his phone card twice. With the help of AT & T, the communications giant, investigators have been able to obtain international mobile phone numbers (IMEI) for telephones used by SIM card hackers, and as a result, nearly $ 250,000 has been seized so far. Trading platforms such as Coinbase, Bittrex and Binance cooperate with investigators to track Ortiz's footsteps. Apparently, he traded nearly $ 1 million in digital currency on trading platforms. Eventually, California authorities arrested Ortiz at Los Angeles International Airport on his way to Europe on July 12. He told investigators that he and his "conspirators" seized millions of dollars in digital currency. He has been charged with 13 counts of identity theft, 13 counts of piracy and two counts of major thefts.