A former AT&T retail worker in Portland, Oregon, has been sentenced to 16 months in federal prison for using his access to the company's systems to carry out SIM-swap attacks on behalf of a wider criminal network. Kenneth Carter, 44, reassigned customers' phone numbers to devices controlled by co-conspirators, allowing them to intercept SMS-based two-factor authentication codes and password reset messages, take over victims' bank accounts and attempt to drain funds. The case highlights how insider access at telecoms retailers can be exploited to defeat SMS-based security measures, even when the wider fraud ring operates largely outside the company.

Carter worked with at least three other people between May 2018 and November 2019, in a scheme prosecutors say caused nearly $600,000 in intended losses across three identified victims, of which $593,963.77 was the combined intended total. Only one attack succeeded in stealing money, $99,528.33, which was transferred to a Portuguese bank account, while two further attempted transfers of roughly $247,000 and $246,000 were blocked by bank fraud controls. Carter was reportedly paid $1,000–$2,000 per swap, though he claimed his total earnings were under $4,000; he pleaded guilty on 24 March 2026 to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud, and told the court in a letter that he believed the work was harmless, a claim prosecutors dismissed as insufficient justification.