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Amir Hossein Golshan, a Downtown Los Angeles resident who used SIM swapping and other fraud schemes to take over accounts, was sentenced to 96 months—eight years—in federal prison on November 27, 2023. He had pleaded guilty to federal computer-access and wire-fraud offenses. The court also ordered him to pay $1,218,526 in restitution, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Who was the Los Angeles SIM swapper?
Golshan used SIM swapping as part of a broader set of schemes that affected hundreds of victims from at least April 2019 through February 2023, the DOJ reported. His conduct included taking over Instagram accounts, soliciting money through Zelle, offering fake Instagram services, and impersonating Apple Support. The case therefore involved more than a phone-number transfer or a single type of online fraud.
How SIM swapping enabled account takeovers
SIM swapping is the fraudulent transfer of a legitimate subscriber’s phone number from their SIM card to a SIM controlled by someone else. Once the transfer succeeds, that person may receive text messages—including one-time codes used for two-step authentication—that were intended for the subscriber. The DOJ describes the method in its case release.
An Instagram account used to target friends
In one representative incident described by prosecutors, a Los Angeles model and influencer with more than 100,000 social-media followers gave her phone number to someone she believed was a friend. Golshan used the number to take over her Instagram account, impersonate her, and ask friends for money through Zelle, PayPal, and other services. He also demanded $2,000 to return the accounts and threatened to delete them.
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Apple Support impersonation and digital assets
In a separate scheme, Golshan impersonated Apple Support and persuaded a victim to disclose a six-digit authentication code. He then changed the email address associated with the victim’s iCloud account and stole an NFT prosecutors valued at approximately $319,000, along with approximately $70,000 in cryptocurrency. The DOJ said Golshan later sold the NFT for $130,000 in cryptocurrency.
How much money did victims lose?
The DOJ attributed approximately $740,000 in losses to the overall schemes, which affected hundreds of victims. In the Zelle portion, Golshan received approximately $82,000 from about 500 victims, usually in payments of $300 to $500. These are separate measures: the roughly $82,000 describes the Zelle payments, while the roughly $740,000 figure covers losses attributed to the overall conduct.
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The court ordered $1,218,526 in restitution. Restitution is the amount ordered for repayment to victims; it is not the same measure as the DOJ’s estimate of losses from the schemes.
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Golshan pleaded guilty to one count of unauthorized access to a protected computer to obtain information, one count of wire fraud, and one count of accessing a computer to defraud and obtain value. U.S. District Judge Otis D. Wright II imposed the 96-month federal prison sentence on November 27, 2023, and ordered restitution. The FBI investigated the case; Assistant U.S. Attorneys Andrew M. Roach and Tara B. Vavere handled prosecution and asset-forfeiture matters, according to the DOJ announcement.
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The DOJ release quoted a prosecutor describing the crimes as demonstrating an “utter lack of respect for the law and basic human dignity.” It also reported the judge’s characterization of conduct “beyond just money” and of “wanton cruelty” that left victims living in “constant fear and worry.”
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