A downtown Los Angeles man was found guilty of hacking into social media accounts and stealing around $740,000 through SIM-swapping scams.
Amir Hossein Golshan, 24, pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information, one count of wire fraud, and one count of accessing a computer to defraud and obtain value, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Golshan faces up to 20 years in federal prison for the wire fraud count and up to five years in prison for each of the computer access counts.
From at least April 2019 to February 2023, authorities said Golshan was responsible for multiple online schemes that defrauded hundreds of victims through social media scams, Zelle payment fraud, and Apple support impersonations.
“In total, Golshan’s entire scheme caused approximately $740,000 in losses to hundreds of victims over several years,” officials said.
One of the ways Goshan scammed his victims was through the practice of “SIM swapping.” The process involves “fraudulently inducing a carrier to reassign a cell phone number from the legitimate subscriber’s SIM card to a SIM card controlled by another without the legitimate subscriber’s authorization,” officials explained.
With full SIM card control, the scammer can access the victim’s personal accounts through two-step authentication text messages sent to their cell phone.
In December 2021, Golshan used SIM swapping to dupe both the victim and her friends into sending him money, officials said.
“A Los Angeles-based model and influencer with more than 100,000 followers on social media received a direct message on Instagram from her friend’s account, stating, ‘Can you do me a favor? What’s your number?’ The victim provided her phone number to the person whom she believed was her friend, but who really was Golshan,” court documents said.
Golshan logged into the victim’s Instagram account and while impersonating the victim, requested her friends send him money through Zelle, PayPal, and other online payment platforms.
Several of the victim’s friends fell for the trap and sent Golshan money which amounted to thousands of dollars. Golshan locked the victim out of her accounts and sent her messages demanding $2,000 for the return of her accounts while threatening to delete her profiles if she did not pay him.
In January 2022, Golshan used SIM swapping on two more victims that involved gaining access to their personal accounts.
In one of the incidents, Golshan contacted the victim and demanded a $5,000 payment for the return of her SIM. He had threatened to post her personal photos and videos online if she refused to comply.
Golshan had also stolen money by advertising fake or nonexistent Instagram services to victims for several hundred dollars each.
In August 2019, Golshan promised to provide a verified Instagram badge for a victim’s teenage daughter in exchange for $300.
“Golshan knew this statement was false and that only Instagram could provide such a badge,” court documents said. “Nevertheless, Golshan induced the victim to send an electronic payment of $300 to him, which he deposited in his bank account.”
At times, he also impersonated Apple Support staff to gain access to victims’ iCloud accounts to steal NFTs, cryptocurrency, and other valuable digital property. Through this scheme, Golshan defrauded five victims of anywhere between $2,000 and $389,000 each.
An August 2022 incident involved Golshan pretending to be an Apple Support employee on the phone promising an advanced security protocol to protect a victim’s iCloud account.
Golshan caused a two-step authentication code to be sent to the victim’s phone and tricked the victim into telling him a six-digit security code which allowed him to gain access to the victim’s iCloud account.
Golshan then changed the email address on the iCloud account and stole valuable digital property from the victim including an NFT valued at approximately $319,000 and around $70,000 worth of cryptocurrency.
Later that day, he sold the stolen NFT for $130,000 in cryptocurrency on a NFT marketplace.
Golshan has been in federal custody since June after he violated the terms of his pretrial release.
His sentencing hearing is scheduled for November 27. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison for the wire fraud count and up to five years in federal prison for each of the computer access counts.