A notorious SIM swapper from Florida named Nicholas Truglia will face a year and a half in prison after his involvement in a fraud campaign. The fraudulent scheme has resulted in the loss of over $20 million from a crypto investor.
The culprits stole the crypto funds after a SIM swap attack by Truglia allowed his affiliates to hijack the investor’s phone number and illegally transfer approximately $23.8 million worth of crypto. Subsequently, the accused moved the cryptocurrency to an online account under his control.
Based on reports, Truglia agreed with their peers to convert the stolen crypto into Bitcoin, another type of cryptocurrency. He has parcelled the fund and transferred it to every participant while keeping a potion as his share for his services.
The involvement of the SIM swapper has cost him more than his profit.
Authorities stated that the SIM swapper had earned $600,000 from the stolen funds and his service to the fraudsters, like collecting and dividing the profits. Unfortunately, the court ordered this miscreant to pay the victim about $20 million within the next two months.
The restitution order declared that the first $12 million should be paid by the defendant this December, and the remaining balance should be accomplished by him next month. Truglia will also serve a three-year supervised release after his primary prison term and was ordered to forfeit nearly a million dollars.
Furthermore, the suspected SIM-swapping group’s leader reached a deal with the victim last month and was ordered by the authorities to pay it $22 million.
Several names, such as SIM jacking, SIM Splitting, and SIM Hijacking, know the SIM swapping attack. In addition, there is an increase in incidents regarding the issue, which allows threat actors to control a target’s phone number with the aid of a bribed third party, or by convincing their mobile carriers to switch the number to an attacker-controlled SIM card via social engineering tactic.
There are guidelines on how to protect phones from SIM-swapping attacks. The most prominent US mobile carriers that have been the primary targets for these attacks are Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile.
Users of these carriers should set up a PIN code for their accounts to stop social engineering campaigns to target their respective customer service.
