Amir Hossein Golshan, 25, of Los Angeles, was sentenced to 96 months in prison for carrying out several cybercrime schemes, including one involving SIM card swapping.
Between April 2019 and February 2023, Golshan caused losses of approximately $740,000 to hundreds of victims, due to various online scams and unauthorized access to digital accounts.
According to court documents, Golshan took over victims’ social media accounts, posed as Apple support and engaged in the Zelle payment fraud schemes.
To take control of the victims’ social media accounts, he used a technique called SIM swapping, in which he convinced mobile phone carriers to port the victims’ numbers to the SIM cards in his possession.
This allowed Golshan to obtain two-factor authentication codes sent via SMS and access victims’ accounts.
In addition to taking over owners’ accounts, Golshan targeted their friends, tricking them into sending him money.
In one case, after taking over an influencer’s Instagram account, he asked the victim’s friends to send him thousands of dollars through PayPal, Zelle, and other online payment platforms. He also locked the victim out of the account, demanding $2,000 to restore access to the account.
He also defrauded individuals by advertising fake and nonexistent Instagram services, demanding fees of several hundred dollars. Through the SIM swap and Zelle programs, he received approximately $82,000 in payments from approximately 500 victims.
By posing as Apple Support, Golshan gained access to victims’ iCloud accounts to steal NFTs, cryptocurrencies, and other digital assets. In total, he defrauded five individuals of between $2,000 and $389,000 each.
In addition to the prison sentence, Golshan was ordered to pay more than $1.2 million in restitution. In July, he pleaded guilty to using SIM swapping against three victims.
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