20-year-old Jordan Dave Persad from Orlando, Florida has been sentenced to 30 months in jail by a United States federal judge for his involvement in a SIM-swapping crypto fraud.
SIM Swap Ring Siphons $1M
According to the Department of Justice (DOJ), U.S. District Judge Diane J. Humetewa pronounced judgment over Persad earlier this week after pleading “Guilty” to Conspiracy to Commit Computer Fraud. His punishment includes paying $945,833 in restitution and a 30-month jail term.
According to the charges brought against him, Persad connived with a few other bad actors to hack into the email account of unsuspecting their victims. Thereafter, they hijacked their victims’ cell phone numbers and gained unauthorized access to their cryptocurrency wallets. This crypto fraud scheme is often referred to as SIM swapping.
Once inside the victims online crypto accounts, Persad and his team of scammers siphoned up to $1 million worth of digital assets from a handful of victims. One affected victim from Arizona suffered a loss of approximately $30,000. The loot was then distributed amongst the bad actors with Persad receiving up to $475,000.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) swung into action and after an investigation including a thorough search of Persad’s Orlando home, the agency was able to recover a portion of the fund. His jail sentence will commence immediately followed by three years of supervised release.
Fight Against Crypto Fraud
Notably, the digital asset ecosystem has seen quite a number of crypto frauds in the last few months, even amidst the broad industry bear market. At the same time, law enforcement agencies have been making efforts in nabbing the perpetrators.
Less than a week ago, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in India arrested one Ahmedabad-based man identified as Ramavat Shaishav aka James Carlson, in connection to a crypto fraud. On raiding his apartment, a total of $930,000 was recovered from his wallets including crypto assets like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and USDT.
Similarly, Navi Mumbai police busted a crypto fraud worth $3.92 million after the First Information Report (FIR) was lodged and investigation was carried out.