\tThe US Department of Justice (DoJ) alleged a hacker paid more than $1 million in bribes to AT&T employees as part of a scheme to illegally unlock millions of mobile phones over the course of five years.<\/p>\n
In an indictment, the DoJ said 34-year-old Pakistan citizen Muhammad Fahd initially provided the employees with batches of IMEI numbers for phones, which they would then unlock from the network using their AT&T credentials. The DoJ alleged he subsequently bribed the insiders to plant malware in the operator\u2019s internal computer system, enabling him to remotely unlock devices.<\/p>\n
Fahd also allegedly paid employees to install unauthorised computer hardware, including wireless access points, in AT&T\u2019s internal network.<\/p>\n
The DoJ said Fahd’s goal was to sell the ability to fraudulently unlock phones to subscribers so they “could stop using AT&T wireless services”.<\/p>\n
AT&T fired a number of Fahd\u2019s co-conspirators after discovering the malware in late 2013, but he allegedly recruited new helpers to continue the work.<\/p>\n
Between 2012 and 2017, the DoJ said more than 2 million phones were illegally unlocked as part of the scheme, costing AT&T millions in lost revenue from service and device payment plans.<\/p>\n
Fahd was arrested in Hong Kong on 4 February 2018, and extradited to the US on 2 August to answer charges including wire fraud and conspiracy to violate the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act.<\/p>\n
He faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The US Department of Justice (DoJ) alleged a hacker paid more than $1 million in …<\/p>\n
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