Man sentenced to federal prison for cybercrimes

A Clarkston man was sentenced Tuesday to 42 months in federal prison for his role in “SIM swapping” and other cybercrimes that reportedly led to online account takeovers and $122,000 in losses.

Anthony Joseph Carlson, 25, was sentenced in Los Angeles by U.S. District Judge Percy Anderson for two counts each of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information. He pleaded guilty to the four felonies last August.

According to a news release from the Department of Justice, Carlson participated in a series of “SIM swapping” schemes that allowed him and others to control online accounts and steal cryptocurrency.

SIM swapping is a type of fraud that tricks cell phone service providers into reassigning a victim’s cell phone number to a new cell phone with a new SIM — Subscriber Identification Module —which is then controlled by another without the victim’s authorization or knowledge of it. That allows the SIM fraudster to receive communications meant for the victim including password reset codes for the victim’s online accounts. Carslon and others worked together in the SIM swapping schemes to reset account passwords, take over victims’ online accounts and steal cryptocurrency, according to the news release.

Carlson also conducted a “phishing” scheme to hijack and monetize Instagram accounts, and sold other stolen Instagram accounts, the news release stated.

Along with his prison sentence, Carlson is expected to be ordered to pay restitution to approximately 10 individuals and companies. A hearing is scheduled for Jan. 18, 2023 before Anderson to determine the amount of restitution.

The DOJ said Carlson’s SIM swapping schemes gained him unauthorized access to email, financial and social media accounts to steal cryptocurrency. In one of his phishing schemes, Carlson sent emails purported to be a legitimate source to get victims to provide personal identifying information, passwords and more which he used to access valuable Instagram accounts with many followers. He’d tell the account owners that he wanted to buy advertising on the accounts but needed additional information to determine the accounts’ value, ultimately convincing the victims to download his analytics software. The software’s website had a name very close to a commonly-used legitimate Instagram analytics software, and victims were tricked into providing user names and passwords to Carlson who then took over the Instagram accounts and monetized them for his personal game, the DOJ said.

Further, he obtained stolen Instagram accounts and resold them to other victims of thousands of dollars, and also collected money for advertising on Instagram accounts that he didn’t own, the DOJ said.