Attackers Charged in Connection to $400M FTX Hack Involving SIM Swap Scam

Jimmy Aki
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The U.S. federal prosecutors have charged three individuals for orchestrating a SIM-swapping scam on the FTX exchange in November 2022. This move resulted in over $400M theft from the platform just hours after it filed for bankruptcy.

Deep Dive into Powell SIM Swapping Crew

Federal prosecutors charged three individuals connected to FTX’s hack in a filing on January 24 in a Washington, D.C. District Court. The accused parties are Robert Powell, Carter Rohn, and Emily Hernandez, who are alleged to have orchestrated SIM swap attacks.

According to the indictment, the attackers executed a series of SIM swap attacks, gathering data from 50 victims.

The stolen information was subsequently used to manipulate service providers into transferring victims’ numbers to a dummy phone controlled by the attackers.

This allowed the attackers to intercept authentication codes. Subsequently, they gained unauthorized access to financial accounts and cryptocurrency wallets, including those associated with FTX.

SIM swap attacks deceive carriers to reassign numbers from a user’s SIM card to one controlled by attackers, enabling unauthorized access.

Once this deceptive reassignment is executed, the criminals can breach multi-factor authentication and access data to online accounts. This accessed information is often used for theft, blackmail, or illicit fund transfers.

In a notable twist, Powell’s alleged crew reportedly used identification card printers to forge documents. They then assumed the identities of their victims while visiting retail stores of major entities, including Apple, AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile.

These visits extended across several states, including Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Utah, Nebraska, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Massachusetts, Texas, New Mexico, and Tennessee.

While many of the alleged victims did not suffer direct financial losses, some dealt with severe consequences.

One particularly impacted individual reportedly had over $400 million transferred from their company to the co-conspirators’ financial accounts. This was after their AT&T device was tweaked in a Texas retail store.

Individual victims purportedly lost cryptocurrency amounts ranging from $15,000 to over $1 million. After the $400 million hack, the illicitly obtained funds were laundered through a web of decentralized exchanges.

SBF Ties to Sim Swapping Scam Cools Off

FTX, once a prominent cryptocurrency trading platform, witnessed a severe downfall in November 2022. This was due to the alleged misuse of customer funds by FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF).

https://twiter.com/LilMoonLambo/status/1591088890534035461?s=20

SBF is accused of misusing customers’ funds for personal benefits and lavish gifts, contributing to the platform’s collapse.

Following the bankruptcy filing, FTX encountered a breach that led to the loss of more than $400 million in crypto assets.

While maintaining innocence, SBF suggested the possibility of an inside job. Numerous speculations arose, accusing SBF of utilizing backdoor codes to misappropriate funds for his family’s financial security.

However, these claims remain unverified and speculative. Currently incarcerated, SBF faces potential legal consequences, with a potential sentence of over ten years looming.

The latest filing suggests that SBF had no initial ties to the SIM swapping scam. Powell, on the other hand, now faces charges of conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft, wire fraud, and access device fraud.

If convicted, the indictment specifies that all stolen funds must be forfeited, marking a significant legal consequence for the attackers.

About Jimmy Aki PRO INVESTOR

Based in the UK, Jimmy is an economic researcher with outstanding hands-on and heads-on experience in Macroeconomic finance analysis, forecasting and planning. He has honed his skills having worked cross-continental as a finance analyst, which gives him inter-cultural experience. He currently has a strong passion for regulation and macroeconomic trends as it allows him peek under the global bonnet to see how the world works.