The United States Continues to Crack Down on The Community Hackers
The United States has recently sent another member of the notorious international hacking group known as The Community to prison. Garrett Endicott, hailing from Warrensburg, Missouri, was the final defendant to be sentenced in connection with a large-scale SIM-swapping conspiracy that targeted victims across multiple states, including California, Missouri, Michigan, Utah, Texas, New York, and Illinois.
This cybercrime ring involved Endicott, along with five other individuals including Conor Freeman from Dublin, Ireland; Ricky Handschumacher from Pasco County, Florida; Colton Jurisic from Dubuque, Iowa; Reyad Gafar Abbas from Rochester, New York; and Ryan Stevenson from West Haven, Connecticut. They were charged with various offenses such as conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft in a 15-count indictment that was unsealed on May 9, 2019.
After pleading guilty to the charges, 22-year-old Endicott was recently sentenced to ten months in prison by United States District Judge Denise Page Hood. Additionally, he was ordered to pay restitution totaling $121,549.37.
The Cybercrime Operation
The modus operandi of The Community involved gaining control of a victim’s cell phone number and using it to access their email accounts, cryptocurrency wallets, and cloud storage. By manipulating passwords and two-factor authentication codes, the hackers were able to bypass security measures and steal millions of dollars worth of cryptocurrency.
The US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Michigan stated, “Individual victims lost cryptocurrency valued, at the time of theft, ranging from under $2,000 to over $5 million. The sentenced defendants were involved in total thefts ranging from approximately $50,000 to over $9 million.”
Legal Consequences
Endicott’s co-conspirators have also faced legal repercussions in the United States. Handschumacher received a 48-month prison sentence and was ordered to pay restitution totaling $7,681,570.03. Jurisic was sentenced to 42 months in prison and ordered to pay $9,517,129.29 in restitution. Abbas was given a 24-month prison sentence and ordered to pay $310,791.90 in restitution. Stevenson, on the other hand, received probation in the District of Connecticut after pleading guilty.
In a separate case, the United States withdrew its extradition request for Freeman after he was sentenced to three years in prison in Ireland for various cybercrimes related to cryptocurrency theft and computer fraud.