10 years in prison for first person convicted of SIM hijacking

• 20-year-old college student Joel Ortiz faces 10 years in prison for SIM hijacking crimes.
• Ortiz was convicted of stealing over $5 million in cryptocurrency from several victims.
• This will be the first jail time sentencing for a SIM hijacker, setting a harsh precedent for future convictions.

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In a landmark legal win (via Motherboard), a judge will sentence 20-year-old college student Joel Ortiz to 10 years in prison for his SIM hijacking crimes. By the end of his run, Ortiz had used SIM hijacking techniques to steal over $5 million in various cryptocurrencies, mostly Bitcoin.

The jail time is part of a plea bargain with official sentencing to land on March 14, 2019. When the sentence is handed out, it will likely be the very first sentencing for a crime of this sort.

SIM hijacking is when thieves obtain a victim’s phone number in order to gain access to sensitive data, including banking apps and crypto wallets. The crime can be as simple as physically stealing a person’s smartphone or SIM card or as intricate as using social engineering to convince a customer service representative at the victim’s wireless carrier to transfer their phone number to a thief’s SIM card.

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With access to a phone number, it’s then incredibly simple to access email, social media, apps, and other accounts owned by the victim.

In some cases, thieves target people who own valuable social media accounts, such as those with short or unique handles or those with a huge list of followers. The thieves then sell access to those accounts on the dark web for thousands of dollars.

Ortiz is part of a small group of SIM hijackers who have been caught. Some of the other high-profile thieves who are currently in custody awaiting trials or sentencing are Xzavyer Narvaez ($1 million in crypto stolen), Nicholas Truglia (multiple millions stolen), and Joseph Harris (over $14 million).

With Ortiz receiving 10 years in a plea bargain, a harsh message is now delivered to these thieves and others who have yet to be caught: the police are not taking this matter lightly.

Samy Tarazi, one of the agents who investigated the Ortiz case and also a member of the Regional Enforcement Allied Computer Team (REACT) in California, said that during 2018 the team received hundreds of SIM hijacking claims from potential victims. With the multiple arrests and upcoming conviction of Ortiz, Tarazi says claims are slowing down.

NEXT: Ugh, Android Q could give carriers more powerful ways to SIM lock phones

Source: Android Zone

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Alcatel’s 1C and 1X hands-on: Budget as budget gets

CES 2019 is in full swing, and Alcatel has announced a few refreshes to existing devices for the new year.

The first device in the CES lineup is the Alcatel 1C. This phone was made for emerging markets and will be sold at an ultra-low cost, at a suggested retail value of under 70 Euros. It brings a Spreadtrum SC7731E processor, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of storage, making it one of the most affordable devices we’ve seen in 2019. The Alcatel 1C runs on Android Go (based on 8.1 Oreo), a lightweight version of the platform tailored to devices with 1GB of RAM or less.

The phone is made of a polycarbonate material with a micro-textured lattice design, and features a microUSB cable on the bottom with a headphone jack up top. The 1C features a single 5MP camera on the back and a 2MP front shooter, so while it probably won’t take great photos, they’ll get the job done for those that just need a cheap camera. It comes with a 2,000mAh battery, which seems extremely small for a smartphone, but the 4.95-inch 720p display probably won’t use up too much energy.

The spec that makes this phone truly budget is the fact that it can only operate on up to 3G networks. It’s strange to see a device with no 4G support in 2019, but Alcatel tells me it made this move to save on cost. This device would probably make a better media player than a smartphone, but it’s nice to have to option if you wanted to use it as an emergency pay-as you go phone.

The Alcatel 1C will come in volcano black, enamel blue, and blush pink.

The second device in the lineup is the Alcatel 1X. This is a step up from the 1C in specs, coming with a MediaTek MT6739WW processor, 2GB of RAM and 16GB of storage. This device is running with the full version of Android 8.1 Oreo, and comes with two a single 5MP shooter on the front and two cameras on the rear. The primary shooter is 13MP (interpolated to 16MP with software) while the secondary shooter is 2MP. The second camera enables things like bokeh mode in the camera app, a feature usually reserved for more expensive devices.

The 1X features a 5.5-inch 720p display and a 3,000mAh battery, so it should last quite a bit longer than the 1C. With 4G capabilities enabled in this device as well, this is a phone you might actually use as your primary phone. This device will be available for under 120 Euros beginning in Q1 of 2019, and will come in pebble black and pebble blue.

What do you think about these new devices? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!

Source: Android Zone

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