Fraudster Sentenced To Prison For Stealing Personal Information Of AT&T Customers To Buy iPhones
GREENBELT, Md. (WJZ) -- One person was sentenced to 50 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and for aggravated identity theft, in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain and charge the costs of upgraded Apple iPhones against true AT&T customers.
Toni Bobet, 30, of New York, New York, was sentenced on these charges.
According to the plea agreements of Bobet, and co-defendants Alonia Perkins, 42, of Tampa, Florida, and Celeste Carmona, 23, of New York, New York, they conspired to obtain, charge and finance the costs of upgraded Apple iPhones against true AT&T customers' accounts.
The defendants admitted that they used stolen account information, telephone upgrade eligibility and personal identifying information of actual AT&T Mobility customers to obtain the iPhones, which Bobet then provided to her co-conspirators in New York City.
In May 2016, Bobet drove Perkins and Carmona from New York City to Apple Stores located in Maryland to obtain Apple iPhones for resale.
On May 16, 2016, Bobet provided Perkins and Carmona with fake ID's that contained the stolen personal information of victim AT&T customers but had the photographs of Perkins and Carmona, as well as counterfeit credit and debit cards in the victim customers' names.
Bobet drove Perkins and Carmona to the Apple Store located at the Columbia Mall in Howard County. Perkins and Carmona went into the Apple store while Bobet remained in the car.
Perkins and Carmona each posed as a victim customer, and purchased an Apple iPhone on the victim customers' accounts.
Bobet then drove Perkins and Carmona to Westfield Montgomery Mall in Bethesda.
Carmona posed as a victim customer and purchased two more iPhones on the account of that customer.
Perkins attempted to purchase an iPhone on the account of a fourth victim customer, but that customer's account reflected a past due balance of $100, and Perkins was unable to upgrade any lines on that victim's account.
Police responded to the Westfield Mall and located Bobet's car in the parking lot. Bobet tried to leave, but officials stopped the car.
Bobet, Perkins and Carmona were taken into custody and transported to police headquarters.
A search of Bobet recovered two cell phones which contained AT&T account information and personal identifying information of at least 20 individuals.
Bobet's vehicle was seized and a search warrant for the car was obtained. Law enforcement recovered a laptop, tablet, counterfeit identification cards, credit and debit cards, and a black duffle bag containing the four fraudulently obtained Apple iPhones.
AT&T records also showed that during the timeframe of the conspiracy, the name of Alonia Perkins was fraudulently added to four AT&T accounts in Florida and that three of these victims' accounts had their billing addresses changed to Perkins' address.
Perkins and Carmona were previously sentenced for their roles in the scheme.