Former telecom manager pleaded guilty to running SIM swapping scheme

A former telecommunications company manager in New Jersey confessed to involvement in a SIM-swapping scheme. This scheme granted hackers access to sensitive customer data, including emails and social media accounts.

Hackers employ a variety of tactics to breach a victim’s device, one of which is SIM swapping. In simple terms, SIM swapping is a process where an individual, often within the telecommunications company, replaces the targeted phone number with another physical SIM card or eSIM chip under the control of the malicious actor.

The former telecom manager enabled hackers to access the victim’s device through SIM swapping

Hackers might also target customer support agents to perform unauthorized SIM swapping. After a SIM swapping, hackers can read the victim’s SMS to access the one-time passwords sent by two-factor authentication systems.

In this case, Jonathan Katz, aka “Luna,” was the manager of a telecommunications company in Burlington County, New Jersey, who had unauthorized access to a protected computer. He allegedly could access several customers’ accounts via his managerial credentials between May 10 and 20, 2021.

So far, five of Katz’s victims have been detected in Wyoming, New Jersey, California, and Tennessee. He reportedly received $1,000 in Bitcoin per SIM swap and made around $5,000. The hackers could access the victims’ cryptocurrency accounts after SIM swapping, and Katz could have profited from that, too.

“In May 2021, Katz was employed as a manager at a telecommunications store and accessed several customer accounts by using managerial credentials.” the U.S. Department of Justice added. “Katz swapped the SIM numbers associated with the customers’ phone numbers into mobile devices controlled by another individual, enabling this other individual to control the customers’ phones and access the customers’ electronic accounts – including email, social media, and cryptocurrency accounts.”

According to the court order, Katz is sentenced to five years in jail. He should also pay a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the financial gain or loss from the crime.