14 DAY TRIAL // Edwin Andrew Pena, a Venezuelan national, has admitted to stealing millions of VoIP minutes from several telecommunication providers by hacking into their systems. The fraudster was arrested in Mexico and extradited to U.S. last year after he previously fled the country in 2006.
According to the authorities, from 2004 until 2006, Mr. Pena, who used to live in Miami, engaged in VoIP fraud activities that brought him illegal profits of over $1 million. To help pull off the scheme, Pena enlisted the help of a Washington-based hacker named Robert Moore.
Despite doing most of the hard work - hacking into the networks of VoIP providers - Moore only earned $20,000 from the whole operation. Meanwhile, Pena, who sold illegally re-routed VoIP calls through his own company for a hefty profit, was living it big. His cut allowed him to buy an expensive boat and several luxury cars.
The success of the scheme also allowed Pena to pay his $100,000 bail back in 2006 and then disappear. Fortunately, the authorities located and arrested him in Mexico in February 2009, from where he was extradited to U.S. in October.
Pena is accused of stealing a total of almost ten million VoIP minutes, thus causing losses of over $1.4 million to his victims. The fraudster pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud and one of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. If found guilty, Pena faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in a federal prison and a fine of $500,000.
Compromising telecommunication systems with the purpose of re-routing traffic can be very profitable for hackers. Back in June 2009, we reported that U.S. and Italian authorities busted an international fraud ring, which used hacked PBX systems to re-route 12 million minute-worth of international phone calls. The losses were estimated at over $55 million.