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Two US Men Sentenced for Stealing Crypto Using 'SIM Swapping'
The duo targeted "at least 10 identified victims" stealing "approximately $330,000 in cryptocurrency."
By Amitoj Singh
Updated Oct 20, 2022, 2:43 p.m. Published Oct 20, 2022, 10:19 a.m.
Two men from Massachusetts have been sentenced to serve time in prison for an "extensive scheme to take over victims' social media accounts and steal their cryptocurrency using techniques such as SIM swapping," according to a press release by the U.S. Justice Department.
- Eric Meiggs, 24, has been sentenced to two years and one day in prison and Declan Harrington, 22, has been sentenced to two years and seven days in prison.
- The FBI had arrested Meiggs and Harrington in 2019. Meiggs pleaded guilty to each of the seven counts charging him with conspiracy, wire fraud, computer fraud and abuse as well as aggravated identity theft in 2021.
- The initial allegation was that the duo tried to steal more than $550,000 in cryptocurrency. The latest announcement says the duo targeted "at least 10 identified victims" stealing "approximately $330,000 in cryptocurrency."
- Meiggs and Harrington "targeted executives of cryptocurrency companies and others who likely had significant amounts of cryptocurrency and those who had high value or “OG” (slang for Original Gangster) social media account names," the announcement said.
- SIM swapping is a way of bypassing two-factor authentication using mobile operators to break into sensitive websites like crypto exchanges and online banking. Several individuals in the cryptocurrency space have fallen victims to SIM swapping.
Read More: 'Baby Al Capone' Agrees to Pay $22M in AT&T SIM-Swap Case
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What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
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U.S. Banking Regulator Warns Wall Street on 'Debanking,' Claims Practices 'Unlawful'
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency probed debanking of certain industries, including digital assets, and said it'll pursue any repeat of such activity.
What to know:
- The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, which regulates U.S. national banks, released a report on so-called "debanking" of industries including crypto, saying that Wall Street banks have been guilty and may be subject to punishment.
- The report comes as a response to President Donald Trump's executive order in August directing regulators to probe debanking.
- It's unclear what legal authority the OCC may cite to pursue cases against bankers who violate the agency's standards.
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