Two Americans sent to prison for stealing crypto by switching SIMs

Massachusetts residents – Erig Meiggs and Declan Harrington – will go to prison for two years for stealing roughly $330,000 worth of cryptocurrency from victims. The criminals used several techniques to drain assets, including “SIM swapping” and data hacking.

Fraudulent schemes involving digital assets have been on the rise recently in the United States. In late August, authorities charged the Miami trio – Esteban Cabrera Da Corte, Luis Hernandez Gonzalez and Asdrubal Ramirez Meza – with defrauding banks and cryptocurrency platforms of over $4 million. Their illegal operations can result in 30 years in prison.

The latest crypto scam in the US

US Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that Erig Meiggs will spend two years and one day in prison, while his accomplice Declan Harrington will remain behind bars for two years and seven days. The men mainly attacked leaders of cryptocurrency organizations and used sophisticated techniques to steal their assets.

“According to court documents, Meiggs and Harrington targeted executives of cryptocurrency companies and others likely to have significant amounts of cryptocurrency and those with high value or ‘OG’ (slang for Original Gangster) social media account names,” the statement said.

The DOJ claimed Meiggs and Harrington’s favorite practice was “SIM swapping.” This is a form of theft where criminals steal a mobile phone number by assigning it to a new SIM card (Subscriber Identity Module). Later, they insert the new SIM card into another device and gain access to accounts.

Cybercriminals then pose as victims and ask the phone provider to send password reset links or an authentication code. Using these credentials, they can have full control over one’s account and steal assets from there.

“SIM swapping,” data hacking and other techniques helped the two Massachusetts residents siphon off about $330,000 in digital currency from at least ten identified victims across the states. Meiggs and Harrington admitted their crime in August 2021, which is why they avoided more severe punishment.

The crypto schemes in Florida

The three Miami residents – Esteban Cabrera Da Corte, Luis Hernandez Gonzalez and Asdrubal Ramirez Meza – made headlines in August by stealing more than $4 million from banking institutions and cryptocurrency exchanges.

The trio used to buy digital assets from a variety of platforms using stolen identities and complained to banks that the transactions were carried out without the necessary authorization and asked for refunds.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) discovered the crime and led the arrest of the men. As a result of their illegal activities, they face a maximum prison sentence of 30 years.

Last month, US authorities put another Florida citizen on trial – Joshua David Nicholas. He and other members of the dubious crypto platform EmpiresX defrauded investors of digital currencies worth $100 million.

The company was not registered with the relevant regulators and operated as a typical Ponzi scheme. However, Nicholas pleaded guilty, meaning he will serve a maximum sentence of five years in prison.