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An AT&T store worker swapped customers' SIMs for cash. One victim lost $99,528.

A former AT&T retail worker in Portland, Oregon used store access to swap customers' SIMs for cash, The Register reported.

ERP LEADERS news desk · · First reported by The Register · Edition no. 5

The Register said the worker was sentenced to 16 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $99,528 in restitution, having in March admitted a charge The Register described as "conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud".

According to The Register, the worker moved victims' phone numbers onto handsets held by accomplices. They then intercepted the SMS codes that banks send as a second factor.

Prosecutors put the intended loss at $593,963.77 across three victims. One transfer of $99,528.33 went through. The banks' own checks stopped two more transfers, of $247,652.74 and $246,782.70.

The worker said the payment was under $4,000 in total and that the activity seemed harmless. Prosecutors said there was insufficient evidence for that account.

Nothing in the source describes a technical break-in. The Register describes a retail employee using valid store access to make a change no second person had to approve.

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