ICE HSI investigation imprisons & restitutes hacking group members for stealing millions in cryptocurrency
#US; #CyberCrimes; #FinancialCrimes
Detroit/Canadian-Media: A sixth member of an international hacking group known to its members as “The Community” case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) special agents with the assistance of Irish law enforcement authorities and was sentenced yesterday in connection with a multi-million-dollar SIM Hijacking conspiracy, HSI reports said.
The announcement was made by acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan Saima Mohsin and acting HSI Detroit Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris.
“The illegal activities of ‘The Community” were thwarted as the result of a complex international cryptocurrency and identity theft investigation,” said HSI Detroit acting Special Agent in Charge James C. Harris. “As criminal organizations commonly use web-based schemes to further their illicit activities, this demonstrates how vulnerable our personal information can be, and the damage that can ensue when our information falls into the wrong hands.”
Garrett Endicott, 22, of Warrensburg Missouri, after pleading guilty previously was sentenced to serve 10 months in prison and pay restitution in the amount of $121,549.37.
“SIM Hijacking” or “SIM Swapping” is an identity theft technique that exploits mobile phone numbers by which “The Community” gained control of victims’ mobile phone numbers, resulting in the victims’ phone calls and short message service (SMS) messages being routed to devices controlled by “The Community.”
SIM Hijacking was used by members of “The Community” to steal cryptocurrency — virtual currencies or digital currencies, are online media of exchange — from victims across the country, including California, Missouri, Michigan, Utah, Texas, New York, and Illinois. The most famous of these is Bitcoin. Like traditional currency, they act as a store of value and can be exchanged for goods and services, as well as dollars.
In total, “The Community’s” scheme resulted in the theft of tens of millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency. Individual victims lost cryptocurrency valued, at the time of the theft, ranging from under $2,000 to over $5 million. The sentenced defendants were involved in total thefts ranging from approximately $50,000 to over $9 million.
Individuals who previously pleaded guilty and were sentenced in the eastern district of Michigan include:
- Ricky Handschumacher, 28, of Pasco Country, Florida, was sentenced to 48 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $7,681,570.03.
- Colton Jurisic, 22, of Dubuque, Iowa, was sentenced to 42 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $9,517,129.29.
- Reyad Gafar Abbas, 22, of Charleston, South Carolina, was sentenced to 24 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $310,791.90
“The actions of these defendants resulted in the loss of millions of dollars to the victims, some of whom lost their entire retirement savings,” said acting U.S. Attorney Mohsin. “This case should serve as a reminder to all of us to protect our personal and financial information from those who seek to steal it.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Wyse, assisted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shankar Ramamurthy and Michael El-Zein as well as attorneys from the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and Irish law enforcement officials were responsible for s prosecuting the case. Special thanks are due to Assistant U.S. Attorneys and federal agents across the country that provided assistance with arrests and searches conducted in May 2019.
HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 employees consists of more than 7,100 special agents assigned to 220 cities throughout the United States, and 80 overseas locations in 53 countries. HSI’s international presence represents DHS’s largest investigative law enforcement presence abroad and one of the largest international footprints in U.S. law enforcement.