Friday, March 29

Ten years in prison for a seller who unlocked cell phones | Digital Trends Spanish


Argishti Khudaverdyan, 44, of Burbank, a former owner of a T-Mobile retail store in Eagle Rock who was sentenced to 120 months in federal prison for his multi-million dollar scheme, suffered a harsh and exemplary sentence that may set precedents in the United States. in which he stole credentials from employees of T Mobile and illegally accessed the company’s internal computer systems to illicitly “unlock” and “unlock” cell phones.

Khudaverdyan led a multi-year scheme that illegally unlocked and unlocked cell phones, generating tens of millions of dollars in criminal proceeds. During this time, most cell phone companies, including T-Mobile, “locked” their customers’ phones so they could only be used on the company’s network until the phone and service contracts of the customers had been fulfilled. customers. If customers wanted to switch to a different carrier, their phones had to be “unlocked.” Carriers also “locked down” cell phones to protect consumers if cell phones are lost or stolen.

From August 2014 to June 2019, Khudaverdyan fraudulently unlocked and unlocked cell phones on the T-Mobile network, as well as on the networks of Sprint, AT&T, and other carriers. The removal of the unlock allowed the phones to be sold on the black market and allowed T-Mobile customers to stop using T-Mobile services and thereby deprive T-Mobile of revenue generated from the contracts. customer service and equipment payment plans.

Khudaverdyan advertised his fraudulent unlocking services through brokers, email solicitations, and websites. He falsely claimed that the fraudulent unlocks he provided were “official” unlocks from T-Mobile.

Khudaverdyan obtained more than $25 million from these criminal activities. He used these illegal proceeds to pay for, among other things, real estate in Burbank and Northridge.

In a sentencing memorandum, prosecutors argued that Khudaverdyan was “a sophisticated con man with no remorse for his crimes. He personally caused millions of dollars in losses to wireless carriers while fueling the traffic in lost and stolen cell phones.”

Publisher Recommendations










es.digitaltrends.com