Oakland County man jailed for hacking Instagram accounts, phone numbers | Tech Reddy

CLARKSTON, Mich. – It is Oakland County The man was sentenced to prison for organizing a campaign to hijack Instagram accounts and phone numbers.

‘SIM switch’ scheme

Officials said Anthony Joseph Carlson, 25, of Karakastonran a fraudulent “SIM switch” scheme in which he tricked mobile phone service providers into crediting new phones he managed.

This was done without the knowledge of the owners of those phone numbers, authorities said.

Carlson-operated cell phones have a new feature of subscriber integration, so after someone’s service is hijacked, Carlson can receive messages for that person. Those details are password reset codes for online accounts, officials said.

Carlson worked with others in SIM swapping schemes to identify passwords, take over accounts, and steal cryptocurrency.

Officials said Carlson was part of two separate schemes to use a SIM switch to access email, banking and social media accounts. He did it with the intention of stealing cryptocurrency, authorities said.

One scheme involved taking over a Coinbase account and aiming to steal $10,000 in cryptocurrency. It didn’t really die.

The second scheme — which focused on taking over a Facebook account — allowed Carlson and another person to receive cryptocurrency from two of the banker’s friends.

In total, Carlson’s SIM swap program lost more than $28,000.

Instagram accounts were stolen

One of Carlson’s goals is to capture the most valuable Instagram accounts he can sell. He lost more than $93,000, according to federal officials.

Carlson sent emails claiming to be from legitimate sources and encouraging people to reveal identifying information and passwords, authorities said.

Carlson told the owners of popular Instagram accounts that he wanted to buy ads, but he said he needed to determine how much those accounts were worth marketing.

He convinced the owners of those accounts to download his “analytics software,” a deceptive website name that resembles a common Instagram analysis software. When users downloaded the software, Carlson stole their usernames and passwords, allowing him to take over the accounts.

Authorities said Carlson also obtained stolen Instagram accounts from other people and resold them for thousands of dollars.

As part of another project, Carlson collected money for advertising on Instagram accounts that he did not actually manage.

Punishment

Carlson pleaded guilty Aug. 22 to two counts of wire fraud and two counts of unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information. All four charges are felonies.

He was sentenced to 42 months (three and a half years) in state prison.

“It’s almost as if the robber is robbing the victims,” ​​said U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson. “You don’t rest because you used the computer.”

A hearing to determine what Carlson owes is scheduled for January 18. He owes money to 10 individuals and companies.