Pakistani Man Bribed AT&T Insiders to Plant Malware and Unlock 2 Million Phones

United States federal government has charged a Pakistani
national for bribing employees at AT&T telecommunication
company over a period of five years to help unlock more than 2
million phones and plant malware on the company’s network.

Muhammad Fahd, a 34-year-old man from Pakistan, was arrested in
Hong Kong last year in February at the request of the U.S.
government and just extradited to the U.S. on Friday, August 2,
2019.

According to an indictment
unsealed Monday, Fahd recruited and paid AT&T insiders working
at a call center in Bothell, Washington, more than $1 million in
bribes between 2012 and 2017 to help them unlock cell phones
associated with specified IMEI numbers that otherwise were not
eligible to be removed from AT&T’s network.
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Some telecommunication companies, including AT&T, Verizon,
T-Mobile, and Sprint, sell flagship phones at discounted prices,
but it comes with locked SIMs that prevent users from switching
their network service for any other telecommunication service.

With his partners in crime at AT&T, Fahd and his
co-conspirator Ghulam Jiwani, who is now deceased, ran a successful
business where he charged millions of users in return to unlock
their devices, enabling them to use a SIM card of any other
carrier, domestically or internationally.

Fahd also paid AT&T employees bribes for installing malware
on the company’s internal computers at the Bothell call center
which allowed Fahd to gather confidential and proprietary
information on how AT&T’s computer network and software
applications function.

Apparently using that malware and credentials of his
co-conspirator at AT&T, Fahd was able to automatically process
unauthorized unlock requests for any cell phone from a remote
location.

Later when Fahd was not able to remotely control its malware, he
again bribed AT&T employees to install computer hardware
devices, including wireless access points, that helped him gain
access to AT&T internal network and continue unlocking phones
remotely.
In total, Fahd paid more than $1 million in bribe to AT&T
employees, with one employee receiving $428,500 over the five-year
scheme, which they receive in their bank accounts or business
banking accounts in the name of shell companies created for
receiving payments.

The suspect contacted the AT&T employees over the phone,
Facebook, or other communication channels and instructed them to
obtain prepaid cell phones and anonymous email accounts to
communicate with him.

Fahd is charged with a total of 14 counts, which include one
count for committing wire fraud, one to violate the Travel Act and
the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, four counts of wire fraud, two
counts of accessing a protected computer in furtherance of fraud,
two counts of intentional damage to a protected computer, and four
counts of violating the Travel Act.

The suspect is facing up to 20 years in prison.