The Justice Department has charged three people with orchestrating SIM-swapping attacks to steal more than $400 million from one company, believed to be the failed FTX exchange, according to an indictment filed in federal court last week.
According to an indictment filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Robert Powell, Emily Hernandez, and Carter Roan committed crimes against multiple victims between March 2021 and April 2023. carried out a SIM exchange scam targetingThe indictment does not name the exchange, but Bloomberg report Two sources familiar with the matter said today that FTX is one of the affected companies and is listed as Victim Company-1 in the filing.
According to the indictment, prosecutors charged the three with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and identity theft.
“SIM swap attacks are the process by which carriers are fraudulently induced to reassign mobile phone numbers from legitimate subscriber or user SIM cards to criminal-controlled SIM cards,” the indictment states. has been done.
The criminals allegedly used fraudulent identities to access FTX employees’ AT&T accounts, then unlocked FTX’s online accounts and stole $400 million worth of virtual currency, according to the filing. .
FTX The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2022 after numerous accusations of profiteering from customer funds by management. Its founder and former CEO Sam Bankman Freed said: was found guilty He was charged last year with defrauding FTX investors and faces decades in prison.
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