Nine former employees of a national cell phone service provider were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, access device fraud and aggravated identity theft on Wednesday in the United States Southern District of New York. They are accused of taking part in a $15 million cell phone cloning scheme while employed by a national cell phone service provider.

Eight of the defendants were present in court; the ninth remains at large.

From at least January 2010 through to June 2010, the nine defendants worked for various branches of the cell phone service provider located in the Bronx, New York; in North Bergen, New Jersey; and in Tampa, Florida.

During this period of time, the defendants used the Cell Phone Company’s computer network to obtain confidential information about the cell phones of thousands of customers of the Company without authorization. Together, the nine defendants accessed customer accounts over 16,000 times without authorization.

The customer information that they obtained was used to create “clones” of the customers’ cell phones. These cell phone clones were then used to make unauthorized calls, which usually began just days after one of the defendants accessed the defrauded customer’s account. The cell phone clones were used to make approximately $15 million worth of calls, including a large volume of international calls. The Cell Phone Company has credited its defrauded customers for the value of these calls.

Each of the nine are charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, access device fraud, which carries a maximum penalty of 10years in prison, and aggravated identity theft, which carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 2 years in prison, which must run consecutively to all other counts of conviction.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA said: “The defendants arrested today allegedly breached our everyday telecommunications system to obtain information used clone the cell phones of thousands of unsuspecting customers. Fraud was allegedly their calling card to the tune of $15 million. We intend to prosecute these defendants and others who would undermine and exploit these essential services to the full extent of the law.”

BRIAN PARR, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the United States Secret Service, said: “The U.S. Secret Service will continue to aggressively pursue those that commit fraud and identity theft for their own enrichment. These crimes remain a top investigative priority for our agency.”

The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The cell phone service provider was named as Sprint in a Wall Street Journal article.

Source: US Department of Justice (Southern District of New York)