WHERE IT STARTED
FIRST SEEN: c. 2010s (surged 2017-2018) · GOING FOR: About 10-15 years
Reports of criminals porting victims' numbers to intercept bank codes first appeared in South Africa and the UK around 2010-2013; the first notorious case was the theft of $24 million in crypto from US investor Michael Terpin in January 2018 by a crew that included Nicholas Truglia.
SIM swapping grew out of the telecom practice of moving a phone number to a new SIM card when a phone is lost, combined with banks' reliance on text-message codes for security. Reports of criminals porting victims' numbers to intercept bank codes appeared in the UK and South Africa around 2010-2013. From about 2017-2018 young crews in the US and elsewhere turned it on cryptocurrency holders, with thefts such as the $24 million taken from investor Michael Terpin in January 2018. High-profile takeovers followed, including Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey's account in 2019 and the SEC's X account in January 2024, and SIM swaps have been used as an entry point by groups such as 'Scattered Spider' against large companies.
HOW IT WORKS
A criminal gathers the victim's personal details from data leaks or phishing, then persuades or bribes a phone-company employee - or uses a fake ID in store - to move the victim's number onto a SIM card the criminal controls. The victim's phone suddenly loses service, while the criminal receives their calls and text messages. They use these to reset passwords and pass SMS-based two-factor checks on email, bank and crypto accounts, then drain funds quickly.
Phone suddenly shows 'No service' or 'SOS only' in a normal coverage areaAlerts that your SIM or number was changed or portedPassword-reset or login notices you did not requestBeing locked out of email or financial accounts
HOW USEFUL IT IS TO CRIMINALS
It needs no hacking, just a bribed or fooled phone-shop employee, and once the number is moved every SMS code for email, banking and crypto arrives on the criminal's phone. Payouts can be enormous for a few hours' work (Truglia's crew took $24 million in one hit; an alleged swap enabled a $400 million FTX theft in 2022). US authorities have prosecuted many young swappers and the FCC tightened porting rules in 2023, but the FBI still logged over $68 million in losses in 2021 and the technique persists.
THE DAMAGE IT HAS CAUSED
$68 million+
Losses from 1,611 SIM-swap complaints to the FBI in 2021 — FBI IC3 PSA, 8 February 2022
The FBI received 1,611 SIM-swap complaints with over $68 million in losses in 2021, up from $12 million over 2018-2020 (IC3, Feb 2022). The largest alleged case is the roughly $400 million taken from FTX in November 2022 via a SIM swap on an employee (US DOJ, Jan 2024). Victims lose not just crypto but email, social-media and bank access, and celebrities and the SEC's own X account have been hijacked.
$68 million+ losses from 1,611 SIM-swap complaints to the FBI in 2021 (FBI IC3 PSA, 8 Feb 2022)
$12 million losses from 320 SIM-swap complaints to the FBI over 2018-2020 (FBI IC3 PSA, 8 Feb 2022)
~$400 million FTX theft allegedly enabled by a SIM swap in Nov 2022 (US DOJ indictment, Jan 2024)
WHO USES IT MOST
MOST OF ALL: 🇺🇸 United States ▸
FBI IC3 received 1,611 SIM-swap complaints with over $68 million in losses in 2021 alone, up from about $12 million over 2018-2020 (FBI IC3, 8 Feb 2022).
United States (main victim and prosecuting country)United Kingdom (victims; home of some 'Scattered Spider' suspects)South Africa (early bank SIM-swap cases)Nigeria (SIM-swap bank fraud reported)
From our case files: every country the people who used this method were born in or operated from. Bigger and brighter means more of them; amber is the most. Tap a marker for the country page.
GOVERNMENTS LINKED TO IT
No government is documented as using this method.
NOTABLE PEOPLE WHO USED IT — RANKED BY PROFILE ORDER (NOT BY AMOUNT)
#1 Robert Powell, Carter Rohn and Emily Hernandez CHARGEDREPORT PENDING
About $400 million stolen from FTX (alleged) · 2021-2023
Charged over a SIM-swap ring that prosecutors say enabled the theft of about $400 million from FTX on the day it collapsed; Hernandez pleaded guilty, Powell and Rohn pleaded not guilty.
SOURCE: US DOJ (D.D.C.) indictment unsealed 24 Jan 2024; Krebs on Security, Feb 2024
#2 Nicholas Truglia PLEADED GUILTY OUR CASE FILE #025 ▸
About $24 million stolen ($23.8M per DOJ); $20.4M restitution ordered · 2018
Converted and laundered crypto stolen from investor Michael Terpin after accomplices hijacked his phone number.
SOURCE: US DOJ (SDNY), 1 Dec 2022; resentenced to 12 years, 10 Jul 2025 (Decrypt, Cointelegraph)
#3 Ellis Pinsky CIVIL-ONLYREPORT PENDING
$22 million civil settlement/judgment · 2018
Alleged ringleader of the Terpin SIM swap as a 15-year-old; never criminally charged, agreed to a civil judgment.
SOURCE: CoinDesk, 14 Oct 2022; SDNY judgment, Nov 2022
#4 Joel Ortiz PLEADED GUILTY
About $5 million in cryptocurrency · 2017-2018
College student who used SIM swaps to steal crypto from dozens of victims, one of the first SIM-swap prison sentences.
SOURCE: Santa Clara County District Attorney / press (Motherboard), 2019 (10 years)
OPEN REPORT ▸
#5 Eric Council Jr. PLEADED GUILTYREPORT PENDING
No direct theft quantified · 2024
SIM-swapped the phone tied to the SEC's X account, used to post a fake Bitcoin ETF approval.
SOURCE: US DOJ (D.D.C.), 2025
SOURCES
FBI IC3 Public Service Announcement 'Criminals Increasing SIM Swap Schemes', 8 Feb 2022
Decrypt / Cointelegraph, Jul 2025
US DOJ (D.D.C.) indictment of Powell, Rohn, Hernandez, Jan 2024; Krebs on Security, Feb 2024
CoinDesk, 14 Oct 2022
Wikipedia, 'SIM swap scam', accessed Sep 2026