Erig Meiggs and Declan Harrington, two Massachusetts citizens, were given a two-year sentence in prison for defrauding their victims of cryptocurrency valued at around $330,000. The individuals allegedly used “SIM swapping” and computer hacking among other methods to steal assets.
Erig Meiggs will serve two years and one day in prison, according to the US Department of Justice (DOJ), while Declan Harrington, his accomplice, will serve two years and seven days. The men targeted mostly crypto company executives and used clever methods to steal their assets. The statement reads:
“According to court documents, Meiggs and Harrington targeted executives of cryptocurrency companies and others who likely had significant amounts of cryptocurrency and those who had high value or “OG” (slang for Original Gangster) social media account names.”
SIM Swapping technique
The DOJ asserted that “SIM swapping” was Meiggs and Harrington’s preferred method. This is a type of theft in which criminals take control of a fresh Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card and assign a stolen mobile phone number to it. Later, they access accounts by placing the fresh SIM into a different smartphone.
Then, cybercriminals pose as victims and ask the phone company to give links for password resets or authentication codes. These credentials allow them to have complete control of one’s accounts and steal money from there.
The two Massachusetts individuals were able to steal almost $330,000 in cryptocurrencies from at least ten victims across the United States via “SIM swapping,” computer hacking, and other methods. Meiggs and Harrington evaded harsher penalty because they admitted their crime in August 2021.
Crypto scams, such as romance scams and fraudulent crypto app scams, have become more prevalent recently in the United States, as TheCoinRise reported. Notably, the Miami trio of Esteban Cabrera Da Corte, Luis Hernandez Gonzalez, and Asdrubal Ramirez Meza was accused by the authorities of defrauding banks and crypto platforms of more than $4 million at the end of August.
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