On May 9, 2019, federal prosecutors in Michigan announced charges alleging that members of a group known as “The Community” hijacked mobile phone numbers to access online accounts and steal cryptocurrency. The U.S. Department of Justice attributed seven attacks and approximately $2,416,352 in cryptocurrency losses to the alleged conduct. The announcement described charges, not findings of guilt.
What prosecutors alleged
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, a 15-count indictment charged six people connected to “The Community” with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft. Prosecutors alleged that the group gained control of victims’ phone numbers through SIM hijacking, also called SIM swapping.
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A SIM swap redirects a subscriber’s phone number to a different SIM card, allowing calls and text messages to reach a device controlled by someone else. The indictment alleged two ways the defendants arranged transfers: bribing a mobile-provider employee, or impersonating the subscriber to customer service and asking to move the number to a new SIM.
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Prosecutors said control of a number was then used to reach online accounts, including email, cloud storage, and cryptocurrency exchanges. The indictment alleged that actors used the access to reset passwords or obtain two-factor authentication codes. A SIM transfer does not automatically expose every account; the account access described here is what prosecutors alleged in this case.
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How the allegations unfolded
The attacks were reported as occurring between December 2017 and May 2018, according to CyberScoop’s 2019 account. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said its investigation began in February 2018, after a West Hollywood resident reported a large cryptocurrency theft. Investigators identified Reyad Gafar Abbas and later searched his Rochester, New York, residence. The department said digital evidence there showed communications with alleged co-conspirators about potential victims and hacking methods.
The DOJ attributed approximately $2,416,352 in cryptocurrency losses to seven alleged attacks. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department described the known loss as approximately $2.4 million.
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Who was charged
The cases involved two charging documents, and the distinction matters: the six people named in the indictment were not the same group as the three former mobile-provider employees named in a separate criminal complaint.
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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors| Charging document | People named | Allegations described in the announcement |
|---|---|---|
| 15-count indictment | Conor Freeman, Ricky Handschumacher, Colton Jurisic, Reyad Gafar Abbas, Garrett Endicott, and Ryan Stevenson | Conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft |
| Separate criminal complaint | Jarratt White, Robert Jack, and Fendley Joseph | Wire fraud in relation to the alleged conspiracy; prosecutors alleged the former provider employees helped steal subscribers’ identities in exchange for bribes |
Potential penalties and the presumption of innocence
The DOJ’s 2019 release said conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud each carried statutory maximum penalties of 20 years in prison. It said aggravated identity theft in support of wire fraud carried a statutory maximum of two years, consecutive to any sentence for the underlying wire-fraud count. These were statutory maximums stated in the release, not predictions of sentences or evidence that anyone was guilty.
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- Smart backup: Use your second Tangem Wallet as your Backup keys with end‑to‑end encryption; no more papers, pictures. If one card is lost, the remaining can still restore full access, with an optional seed phrase available for advanced users.
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The DOJ emphasized that the defendants were presumed innocent and that indictments and criminal complaints are allegations the government must prove beyond a reasonable doubt. The available sources cited here do not establish the later outcomes of the cases.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why phone-number security mattered in this case
U.S. Attorney Matthew Schneider said, “Mobile phones today are not only a means of communication but also a means of identification.” The alleged scheme illustrates why: when an online service relies on a phone number for account recovery or text-message verification, control of that number can become a path to an account. That is the mechanism prosecutors described, not a claim that every phone-number transfer leads to a breach.
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Sources: U.S. Department of Justice, May 9, 2019; Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department; CyberScoop, 2019.
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