Palm Beach County-based 'SIM swap' scam could extend across U.S., court records show
Palm Beach Police on May 28 arrested a 31-year-old man and 29-year-old woman who live in Westlake, but whose scheme to bilk unsuspecting people from hundreds of thousands of dollars may stretch across state lines, according to their arrest reports.
The pair were arrested after the Palm Beach resident, who lives on the South End, called police to report that someone had accessed his phone and financial accounts, gained access to about $1,500 in cash from an ATM and attempted to wire transfer more than $200,000 from his bank account, according to the arrest reports.
What officers found what a scheme they said was orchestrated by the Westlake couple, who tricked the man into transferring his phone numbers to a new carrier — without him knowing, the arrest reports said.
Here's what to know about SIM swapping and this case.
"SIM swapping," or "SIM hijacking," happens when fraudsters gain control of a person's phone number and then use it to access their banking and other financial and personal accounts, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Internet Crime Complaint Center, also called the IC3.
More: Palm Beach Police: 'SIM swap' scam tried to steal more than $200,000 from Palm Beacher
The Palm Beach resident told police that he received a call on April 8 from a person who said who said they were with AT&T, and that he needed to validate his phone numbers using a code sent to him via text message, an arrest report said.
The resident provided the code that he received to the person, but later discovered that the code was used to forward his phone number to a different provider, Verizon, police said. By giving that code to the person who said they were from AT&T, he allowed them to complete the final step to move all three of the phone numbers on his account to the other carrier, police wrote in the arrest report.
About 20 minutes after that phone call, phone numbers connected to the resident's AT&T account stopped working, police said.
Once the phone numbers were transferred, someone tried to withdraw money and make a wire transfer from the Palm Beach resident's bank account, police said. Someone also successfully took over one of the man's email accounts.
Detectives determined that once the couple gained access to a person's phone line, they could "circumvent two-factor authentication and gain access to victims' financial accounts, resulting in substantial unauthorized wire transfers and fraudulent transactions," the arrest report said.
In recent years, the number of SIM swap cases in the U.S. has dropped from a peak in 2022, according to the IC3's annual reports:
In 2024, there were 982 complaints of SIM swapping with a total reported loss of $25,983,946.
In 2023, 1,075 SIM swapping complaints were made with a reported loss of $48,798,103.
In 2022, 2,026 cases were reported with a reported loss of $72,652,571.
In 2021, the IC3 received 1,611 complaints about SIM swapping with estimated losses of $68 million.
Once the phone numbers were transferred, someone tried to withdraw money and make a wire transfer from the Palm Beach resident's bank account, police said. Someone also successfully took over one of the man's email accounts.
It's unclear from the arrest reports just how many people may have been affected.
However, Palm Beach Police talked with at least one person in another state, Nevada, who provided evidence that they may also have lost money to the same people who targeted the Palm Beach resident, an arrest report said.
When the Westlake home where the couple lived, Palm Beach Police found a yellow notebook with "Work $" written on it, the arrest report said. Inside the notebook, officers said they found bank account details, Social Security numbers, addresses, names and more personal details about more than 50 people in Florida and across the United States.
Those who believe their case may be connected to the one in Palm Beach should call the Palm Beach Police Department's non-emergency line at 561-838-5454, department spokesman Capt. Will Rothrock said.
Complaints can also be filed with the IC3 at ic3.gov.
Palm Beach has cautioned residents to be wary of potential scams.
"Most of these cases nationally go unsolved," Rothrock said. "The work and tenacity that our detectives put into this to follow the leads to the end and bring a successful conclusion are noteworthy."
Kristina Webb is a reporter for Palm Beach Daily News, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach her at kwebb@pbdailynews.com. Subscribe today to support our journalism.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Daily News: Palm Beach County-based scam could extend across U.S., records show
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