NEW ORLEANS – U.S. Attorney Duane Evans announced that STEPHEN DANIEL DEFIORE age 36, a resident of Brandon, Florida, was sentenced on October 19, 2021 to three (3) months probation, with one year of home confinement by United States District Judge Jay C. Zainey after previously pleading guilty to a one-count Bill of Information charging with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 371 and 1343, for his role in a SIM Swap scam that targeted at least nineteen people, including a New Orleans-area physician. DEFIORE was also sentenced to 100 hours of community service, payment of $77,417.50 in restitution and payment of a $100 mandatory special assessment fee.
According to court documents, a SIM Swap scam is a cellular phone account takeover fraud that results in the routing of a victim’s incoming calls and text messages to a different phone. Once a perpetrator is able to swap the SIM card, it is likely he is able to obtain access to a victim’s various personal accounts, including email accounts, bank accounts, and cryptocurrency accounts, as well as any other accounts that use two-factor authentication.