Phone Scam (File) Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody's Cyber Fraud Enforcement Unit (CFEU) has announced charges against two individuals involv
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody’s Cyber Fraud Enforcement Unit (CFEU) has announced charges against two individuals involved in a sophisticated SIM card swap scheme that resulted in the theft of nearly $280,000 from a victim’s bank account.
The operation, uncovered by an extensive investigation, involved a collaboration between Thomas Simmons and Raymond Ortiz, who allegedly exploited the victim’s cellphone to carry out the fraud.
According to investigators, Thomas Simmons paid Raymond Ortiz, an employee at a Florida cellphone store, to perform a SIM card swap on the victim’s mobile device.
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The swap gave Simmons remote control of the victim’s phone, allowing him to bypass two-factor authentication security measures on a banking app. Simmons waited until the victim was on a flight, unable to intervene, to access the account and transfer funds.
When the victim landed and noticed their phone was nonfunctional, the fraud had already occurred. Simmons reportedly used the stolen money to purchase cashier’s checks for personal expenses.
Simmons, who was already under federal indictment for bank fraud at the time of this crime, was arrested in California by U.S. Marshals and will be extradited to Florida. Ortiz was apprehended in Tampa by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE).
Both individuals face the following charges:
- Grand theft of more than $100,000
- Criminal use of personal identification information
- Simmons also faces additional charges of money laundering.
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Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “These defendants used a SIM card swap scheme to steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from an unsuspecting victim who was on a flight — and only noticed that the fraud took place after he was back on the ground. Thanks to our Cyber Fraud Enforcement Unit and our law enforcement partners, the only thing these sim swap criminals will be trading is their freedom for time behind bars.”
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