Valedictorian sentenced to prison after stealing more than $7.5 million in crypto

A Boston high school valedictorian is one of five people in the US to be arrested for stealing crypto through hacking victims’ phones.

Back in February, Coin Rivet reported on the case of 21-year-old Joel Ortiz, who had yet to be formally sentenced.

Ortiz stole more than $7.5 million in crypto from at least 40 victims, according to the office of the district attorney in the county of Santa Clara.

He has now received a sentence of 10 years in prison.

Ortiz went on a lush and lavish shopping spree following his thefts, including spending $10,000 a night in Los Angeles clubs, hiring a helicopter to take him and his friends to a music festival, and purchasing Gucci luggage and clothing.

Ortiz pleaded no contest to the 10 felony theft charges on January 24, 2019. On Friday April 19, Ortiz was sentenced by Santa Clara judge Edward Lee following two hearings which detailed the destruction of Ortiz’s thefts.

Ortiz had been taken into custody at Los Angeles international airport last year. He is now one of five people to have been arrested by the REACT task force for a growing mobile phone scam called SIM swapping.

SIM swaps can be conducted in a number of ways, for example by calling a phone service provider and posing as the target while claiming the SIM card has been lost. From there, the perpetrator will request the number be ported to a new a card.

Ortiz is reportedly a prolific SIM swapper who has targeted victims to steal their crypto and to seize control over their social media accounts before selling them for Bitcoin.

In one scam back in May 2018, Ortiz stole more than $5.2 million from a Cupertino crypto entrepreneur.

REACT investigators seized $400,000 from Ortiz following his arrest, with the remainder either spent or hidden.

Interested in reading more crypto and cybercrime-related stories? Discover how the ongoing issue of cryptojacking rose by a staggering 44% throughout 2018.