Two Massachusetts men were arrested and charged this week for employing SIM swapping in attacks aimed at stealing cryptocurrency from their victims’ accounts.
The two, Eric Meiggs, 21, of Brockton, and Declan Harrington, 20, of Rockport, were charged in an 11-count indictment, the United States Department of Justice announced.
The men are charged with conspiracy, wire fraud, computer fraud and abuse, and aggravated identity theft.
Meiggs and Harrington allegedly targeted executives of cryptocurrency companies and individuals believed to have significant amounts of cryptocurrency, as well as people with high-value social media account names.
As part of their scheme, the two conspired to take over the victims’ accounts to obtain things of value, such as virtual coins, the indictment claims.
For their illegal activities, the two employed SIM swapping and other techniques that allowed them to take control of accounts and steal cryptocurrency.
SIM swapping is a technique where miscreants convince a mobile carrier to reassign the victim’s phone number from the legitimate SIM card to a SIM card controlled by the attackers.
Cybercriminals can then request password reset links or authentication codes, which are sent to the SIM-swapped device. Using this technique, miscreants can change the login credentials and take control of the victim’s account.
The indictment alleges that Meiggs and Harrington targeted at least 10 victims in the United States, stealing or attempting to steal over $550,000 in cryptocurrency from them.
Meiggs is also said to have taken control of at least two high value (or “OG” – slang for “Original Gangster”) social media accounts.
Related: SIM Swapping Blamed for Hacking of Twitter CEO’s Account
Related: Nine Charged in SIM Hijacking Scheme
Related: 400 Mn Facebook Users’ Phone Numbers Exposed in Privacy Lapse: Reports
More from Ionut Arghire
- Pharmaceutical Giant Eisai Takes Systems Offline Following Ransomware Attack
- North Korean Hackers Blamed for $35 Million Atomic Wallet Crypto Theft
- Cisco Patches Critical Vulnerability in Enterprise Collaboration Solutions
- Android’s June 2023 Security Update Patches Exploited Arm GPU Vulnerability
- US, Israel Provide Guidance on Securing Remote Access Software
- Blumira Raises $15 Million for SMB-Tailored XDR Platform
- KeePass Update Patches Vulnerability Exposing Master Password
- Google Workspace Gets Passkey Authentication
Latest News
- Consolidate Vendors and Products for Better Security
- Pharmaceutical Giant Eisai Takes Systems Offline Following Ransomware Attack
- Vulnerabilities in Honda eCommerce Platform Exposed Customer, Dealer Data
- North Korean Hackers Blamed for $35 Million Atomic Wallet Crypto Theft
- Cisco Patches Critical Vulnerability in Enterprise Collaboration Solutions
- Barracuda Urges Customers to Replace Hacked Email Security Appliances
- Android’s June 2023 Security Update Patches Exploited Arm GPU Vulnerability
- BBC, British Airways, Novia Scotia Among First Big-Name Victims in Global Supply-Chain Hack
