09/10/2026

Oregon Man Sentenced to 16 Months in Federal Prison for Abusing His Role at Mobile Phone Store to Give Customers’ Info to Criminals

United States Attorney's Office District of California

LOS ANGELES – A former Oregon-based AT&T Store employee was sentenced today to 16 months in federal prison for selling his access to his employer’s network to a hacker by “SIM swapping” customers – fraudulently reassigning customers’ cell phone numbers – so the hacker could take control of the victims’ bank accounts and steal their money, causing nearly $600,000 in intended losses.

Kenneth Carter, 44, of Portland, Oregon, was sentenced by United States District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld, Jr., who also ordered him to pay $99,528 in restitution.

Carter pleaded guilty on March 24 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud.

“SIM swapping” is a technique in which a criminal fraudulently induces a mobile carrier to reassign a cell phone number from the legitimate subscriber’s Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card to a SIM card controlled by another without the legitimate subscriber’s authorization or knowledge. This process allows a criminal to intercept two-factor authentication codes sent to the victim via phone call or text message, and to gain access to the victim’s various accounts.

According to Carter’s plea agreement, from May 2018 to November 2019, Carter worked at an AT&T retail store in Portland, Oregon. As part of the conspiracy, a co-conspirator identified potential victims who had bank accounts that could be accessed online and would obtain personal identifying information (PII) and cell phone numbers for those potential victims. This co-conspirator then sent to Carter victims’ PII and cell phone numbers so Carter could do the SIM swap, which he could do as an AT&T Store employee.