SIM-swap fraudster jailed over $265K crypto theft

Key takeaways

1. 01 Ajay Shinjin was sentenced to 2.5 years for stealing about £200,000 ($265,000) in cryptocurrency.
2. 02 Police said Shinjin used SIM swapping to take control of victims’ phone numbers.
3. 03 Hijacked numbers let him receive one-time codes and access bank accounts or crypto wallets.
4. 04 Telecom provider BT data linked Shinjin to thefts from two victims and aiding two more.

Key Takeaways by nexos.ai, reviewed by Cybernews staff.

A 25-year-old man from the United Kingdom has been sentenced to 2-and-a-half years in prison for stealing £200,000 ($265,000) in cryptocurrency via SIM-swapping.

According to the London police, Ajay Shinjin, also known as AJ Marley Cruz, received more than £44,000 of the proceeds, which he used to fund his lavish lifestyle, including expensive holidays in Dubai, a high-end apartment, and gold-plated teeth grills.

Shinjin was first arrested in November 2021, when telecom provider BT identified unauthorized activities in its systems, in which customers’ phone numbers were transferred to SIM cards that were controlled by criminals.

This is a practice known as SIM swapping.

With a phone number under his control, Shinjin was able to receive 1-time passcodes (OTPs) via text messages to gain access to a victim’s bank accounts or crypto wallets to access their money.