Apple-AT&T Identity Thieves Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison
Twin brothers were arrested last year on charges of fraud.
- I've been covering technology and mobile for 12 years, first as a telecommunications reporter and assistant editor at ZDNet in Australia, then as CNET's West Coast head of breaking news, and now in the Thought Leadership team.
Two men were sentenced to 52 months in prison after pleading guilty to running a scheme where they fraudulently accessed more than 2,000 AT&T mobile accounts that they used to obtain Apple products, the Department of Justice said in a press release Monday.
The twin brothers, Luis Hernandez Socarras and Jorge Hernandez Socarras, purchased Apple products, including iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches, by charging them to their victims' accounts. They picked up the devices from across the country in rental vehicles and then resold them in Miami.
The brothers were also ordered to pay $360,937. Their scheme caused a total loss of more than $2 million to all victims, according to the Justice Department. The men pleaded guilty to two counts of access device fraud, interstate transfer of stolen property and aggravated identity theft in April this year after being arrested in March 2021.
Apple and AT&T didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.