WASHINGTON-In what the U.S. Secret Service said is the largest seizure of stolen cellular telephone numbers ever in the United States, the New York Electronic Crimes Task Force arrested Abraham Romy and Irina Bashkavich in Brooklyn, N.Y., for breaking a federal law which prohibits “fraud and related activity in connection with access devices.”
The pair is charged with the possession, distribution and trafficking of such devices, including about 80,000 stolen cellular electronic serial number-mobile identification number combinations.
The two face up to 10 years in prison if convicted, said Bill Whiteside, a spokesman for the Secret Service.
Romy, 45, is a native of Israel living in Brooklyn. He is being held without bail in federal prison in Manhattan. Bashkavich, 38, a Russia native and Brooklyn resident, was released on $100,000 bail after $15,000 was posted.
In the bust, authorities seized 30 cellular phones, six computers, some firearms and a digital data interceptor-the device which captures cellular phones’ ESN-MIN combinations and personal identification number security codes.
PIN use has been instituted by a number of cellular carriers to avert cloning, but in recent months criminals with more sophisticated equipment have toppled that fraud prevention measure as well.
Most of the stolen numbers came from Connecticut, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania users, said the Secret Service.
Officers of the Housing Bureau of the New York City Police Department developed the first solid leads in identifying the location of Romy and Bashkavich’s Brooklyn cloning operation. The arrests came after a six-month investigation by the task force, which is comprised of members of the Secret Service, NYPD, The New York State Police, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office, Bell Atlantic Nynex Mobile and AT&T Wireless Services Inc.
Whiteside said the Secret Service will release the stolen cellular number combinations to the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association and the New York area cellular carriers so industry can determine which numbers were reprogrammed into other phones and used and to estimate revenue losses.
The Romy and Bashkavich case is being prosecuted by U.S. Attorney Zachary Carter in the East District of New York, said Whiteside.
