The College Student Who Stole $7.5M via SIM Swapping

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Published 2024-06-14
Joel Ortiz was arrested at LAX, dressed head to toe in ostentations and gaudy Gucci, as he was about to fly to Europe with $250,000 in cash converted from cryptocurrency that he’d stolen from at least 40 victims a few months earlier to the tune of $7.5 million. Tracked by REACT, a Santa Clara, California cybercrime unit, his irresistible urge to gloat and his over-the-top trail of lavish spending and flaunting of riches on social media made him an easy catch. But how did this one-time high school Valedictorian and Information Technology student at UMass, a kid who grew up in Boston public housing, get here? Was this smart and tech-savvy but socially awkward loner really the mastermind or was he being manipulated by a larger criminal Community?

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All Comments (21)
  • @BlueFenixMD
    Dude stole millions, couldn't invest into a $70 burner and VPN.
  • @ziorfalomusziv1973
    "We wanted to set an example to show that we will find you." "Millions of dollars are still unaccounted for and we haven't arrested the members of the group."
  • @user-hv8vv4zw8j
    Biggest dork, went to party in la and just got robbed by 2 thugs and got arested lol
  • @jamesc9168
    Would continue watching this but the DA woman is annoying AF
  • @pitbullqueen07
    If only they could put this much effort into pdos and human traffickers
  • @limbergsauceda
    What are they so proud about? They caught a low-level hacker that didn't even have 10% of the money stolen. The head hackers are somewhere in South America laughing their asses off at the lady's threat lol.
  • @williamrobertson2620
    Sim swapping is so scary, in theory you could steal anyones information/crypto. Bring back the classic Nigerian prince scam, much easier to defend yourself from.
  • @athens9867
    This guy had no intention of hiding from authorities and this lady with big ass glasses like flat screen tv's thinks they've caught the biggest thief on earth.
  • @JXXN666
    didnt even need to be told bro was acoustic after seeing that outfit
  • @Mxneyside_milly
    They wouldn't have got anyone if he wasn't stupid, why that lady try to flex when they had no Idea who the leader is/was lmfaooo
  • @law7116
    Seems the phone companies should be held liable for letting the sim swap happen in the first place.