The United States has successfully prosecuted another member of the notorious hacking group, The Community, for their involvement in a SIM-swapping conspiracy that targeted victims across multiple states. Garrett Endicott, hailing from Warrensburg, Missouri, was the final defendant to be sentenced in connection with the elaborate scheme that resulted in significant financial losses for individuals in California, Missouri, Michigan, Utah, Texas, New York, and Illinois.
Endicott, along with five other individuals including Conor Freeman from Ireland, Ricky Handschumacher from Florida, Colton Jurisic from Iowa, Reyad Gafar Abbas from New York, and Ryan Stevenson from Connecticut, were charged with various offenses including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. The indictment, unsealed on May 9, 2019, outlined the extent of their criminal activities which involved accessing victims’ cell phone numbers to gain unauthorized entry into their email accounts, cryptocurrency wallets, and cloud storage. Through password resets and manipulation of two-factor authentication codes, the hackers were able to siphon off millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency from unsuspecting individuals.
Endicott, aged 22, pleaded guilty to the charges and was recently sentenced to serve ten months in prison by United States District Judge Denise Page Hood. Additionally, he was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $121,549.37 to compensate for the financial losses incurred by the victims. The US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan revealed that the total thefts orchestrated by The Community members ranged from approximately $50,000 to over $9 million, with individual victims suffering losses anywhere from under $2,000 to over $5 million.
Several of Endicott’s co-conspirators have already faced the consequences of their actions in court. Handschumacher received a 48-month prison sentence and was instructed to pay back $7,681,570.03 in restitution. Jurisic was sentenced to 42 months behind bars and ordered to reimburse $9,517,129.29 to the victims, while Abbas was handed a 24-month prison term and directed to pay $310,791.90 in restitution. Stevenson, on the other hand, received probation in the District of Connecticut after pleading guilty to his involvement in the criminal activities.
In a separate development, the United States decided to withdraw its extradition request for Conor Freeman after he was sentenced to three years in prison in Ireland for similar offenses related to cryptocurrency theft and computer fraud. The successful prosecution of these individuals underscores the government’s commitment to combating cybercrime and holding perpetrators accountable for their actions.