Man got hold of tan codes during phishing by exchanging SIM cards

A man has been sentenced on appeal to 15 months in prison for theft and fraud. The man sent e-mails to elderly people with links to a phishing website, which closely resembled a bank’s site. Significant amounts of money were stolen by exchanging SIM cards.

The elderly victims have disclosed their login details for internet banking on the phishing website. After that, the victims received a fake letter from supposedly their telephone provider, stating that their SIM card had to be exchanged or replaced. The victims were then called that someone would come by to exchange the SIM cards of the mobile phones. The suspect came by on the spot to take the old SIM card and give the victims a new SIM card. This is apparent from the decision of the Court of Appeal in The Hague.

In this way, the suspects obtained the tan codes in order to steal 9557 euros from a victim and 10,000 euros from a second victim. In addition, more than 21,000 euros was stolen due to the theft of another victim’s bank card.

The court convicted the main suspect of theft and fraud, but he was acquitted of computer trespassing for lack of evidence. According to the court, by retrieving the SIM cards and bank cards, the suspect did not make any substantial, factual contribution to the penetration of the victims’ internet banking environment.

Six months of the fifteen-month prison sentence are suspended. Two co-defendants were also charged in the case. One of the two co-defendants was acquitted for lack of evidence. The other co-defendant is still on trial; his case requires additional investigation.