14 DAY TRIAL // Edwin Andres Pena, a Venezuelan with permanent residency in the US, together with co-felon Robert Moore, has been arrested by the FBI in connection to a VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) fraud of almost 1.000.000 dollars.
With Moore's help, who received 20.000$ for his services, Pena created an apparently legal telecommunications broker service that operated through two of his Miami based companies, Fortes Telecom Inc. and Miami Tech & Consulting Inc. Through these he sold more than 10 million minutes of Internet telephone calls, for as little as 0.4 cents a minute.
In an initial stage the two identified vulnerable computer ports belonging to different companies, ports that where thereafter programmed to accept Internet phone traffic. Using these companies as intermediaries, Pena then sent the data to Internet phone providers over hidden routes that took advantage of the networks' vulnerabilities.
The two also had to make sure that the Internet phone providers would accept their calls. They did this by direct attacks and test calls to determine the codes accepted by the providers for the calls authorized on their networks.
At least 15 Internet phone companies suffered losses as a result of Pena's scheme, the largest being 300.000$, and the total prejudice amounting to 1.000.000 dollars.
Pena was accused of fraud and computer hacking and faces up to 25 years in prison and a fine of 500.000 $. Moore was charged with conspiracy, which may translate into a 250.000 $ fine and 5 years in prison.