Texas couple sentenced in San Antonio for $250,000 cryptocurrency fraud

The court in San Antonio, Texas, handed down a sentence against a married couple on charges of SIM-swap fraud. The statement from the U.S. Department of Justice says so.

According to court documents, using this scheme, 22-year-old Andrew Percy Trujillo and 34-year-old Zena Eliza Dowson stole $250,000 in cryptocurrency.

The investigation revealed that he worked at the AT&T mobile carrier. Using his position, he linked Dowson’s phone as an additional user to the victims’ SIM cards.

The method allowed criminals to redirect messages and calls to another device. As a result, the couple gained access to others’ cryptocurrency accounts and transferred assets to their own wallet.

“SIM swapping is a rapidly evolving fraud scheme that everyone should know about. … Anyone who uses two-factor authentication should remember that this method is not 100% reliable. Users still need to monitor any suspicious activity related to their phones,” said Prosecutor Jaime Esparza.

The defendants pleaded guilty. Trujillo was sentenced to 33 months in prison and three years of supervised release, and ordered to pay restitution totaling $282,000. His co-defendant received two months in prison, five years of probation, and a similar monetary penalty.

In September 2021, a Texas resident filed a lawsuit against AT&T. He alleges that he was the victim of SIM-card swapping by the telecommunications giant and lost 159.8 ETH.

Earlier, the U.S. Central District Court of California dismissed the suit by BitAngels founder Michael Terpin against AT&T for damages.

The plaintiff claimed that in 2018 the company aided the scammers in SIM swapping, causing him to lose cryptocurrency worth $24 million. The investor sought $200 million in damages. However, the court found no evidence of fraud or employee negligence.

As reported in March 2023, U.S. authorities arrested Chinese citizen Miles Gu on charges of fraud involving digital assets worth $1 billion. He duped his victims into investing in the online club G |CLUBS.