Security News > 2023 > November > SIM swapper gets 8 years in prison for account hacks, crypto theft
Amir Hossein Golshan, 25, was sentenced to eight years in prison by a Los Angeles District Court and ordered to pay $1.2 million in restitution for crimes involving SIM swapping, merchant fraud, support fraud, account hacking, and cryptocurrency theft.
Golshan pleaded guilty on July 19, 2023, for hijacking the Instagram account of a prominent social media influencer.
"From at least April 2019 to February 2023, Golshan knowingly executed multiple online schemes to defraud hundreds of victims through various online scams and unauthorized intrusions into victims' digital accounts, including social media account takeovers, Zelle payment fraud, and impersonating Apple support," reads the U.S. Department of Justice announcement.
Golshan attempted to hide his identity by using VPN tools and multiple account names.
In one high-profile case from December 2021, he hijacked the Instagram account of a Los Angeles-based model through SIM swapping after contacting her from a hijacked friend's account.
Golshan extorted the model for $2,000, threatening to delete the social media account he had hijacked.