Quote:US law enforcement has dismantled a prominent cybercriminal ring which managed to steal over $2.4 million by hijacking the SIM cards of its victims.
 
Last week, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) revealed that nine individuals have been charged with wire fraud in relation to the hacking group in a Michigan federal court.

In total, six individuals have been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft, and three additional members of the scheme -- all of which are former employees of mobile phone providers -- have been charged with wire fraud.
 
The criminal ring was known as "The Community." The nine members, including eight Americans and one Irishman who were between 19 and 28 years of age, allegedly performed SIM hijacking in order to steal cryptocurrency.
 
SIM-swapping and SIM hijacking are an emerging problem for law enforcement. The tactics used to perform identity theft and to steal funds requires a criminal to gain enough information to pass security checks with a mobile phone provider's customer service team in order to request a number transfer.