(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A Chicago man is due in federal court on Friday, charged in an alleged scheme that defrauded individuals and a company out of hundreds of millions of dollars.
Robert Powell is among three defendants charged in Washington D.C. with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit aggravated identity theft and device fraud.
Carter Rohn, 24, of Indianapolis, and Emily Hernandez, 23, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, were also charged in relation to the scheme.
They’re accused of committing what are known an “SIM swap attacks” over a period of about two years, ending last April.
This includes fraudulently inducing cell phone companies to reassign phone numbers from legitimate users to criminal actors. Fraudulent documents are part of the alleged scheme, according to prosecutors and once achieved, they have access to the victims’ accounts.
Social media accounts can be manipulated to spread misinformation through these attacks as well. A similar scheme was used recently in an attack on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s account on X, formerly known as Twitter.
There are more than 50 alleged victims in this case. One is an unidentified company that had $400 million dollars in cryptocurrency taken over a period of two days.
Listen to our new podcast Looped In: Chicago
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!
Sign up and follow WBBM Newsradio
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram I TikTok