While some mobile companies may use the idea of minutes as tangible objects to be saved or shared, one individual discovered minutes can even be stolen and resold. Although these particular minutes are not of the mobile variety, they still proved to be very lucrative for this hacker.

 

According to a Computer World post, Edwin Pena of Miami has admitted to hacking into the networks of a number of VoIP providers between 2004 and 2006 to steal minutes that could be resold to unsuspecting customers.

Pena pleased guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit computer hacking and wire fraud and one count of wire fraud. Pena had been a fugitive for three years, but recently was returned to the United States last fall. He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton on May 14. Pena faces up to 25 years in federal prison.

“Anytime we bring a fugitive to justice, it’s great,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Erez Liebermann in Computer World. Liebermann prosecuted the case. “This was a sophisticated and very profitable operation. This case sends a clear message to perpetrators that they can be caught and prosecuted, and to companies that there are steps they should be taking to secure their networks.”

Pena had partnered with Robert Moore from November 2004 to May 2006 to hack into the computer networks of multiple VoIP service providers. Calls made by Pena’s VoIP service customers were routed through the hacked lines. Since he posted as a legitimate VoIP services provider, Pena was able to draw in customers with cut-throat prices.

Court records show that Pena sold more than 10 million minutes of VoIP service stolen from as many as 15 telecommunications providers. The lost minutes have been valued at $1.4 million. It is assumed that Pena was the mastermind behind the scheme, while Moore hacked the systems. Moore pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit computer fraud in the fall of 2007 before beginning a two-year prison sentence.

 

“We need to expose these new crimes and make companies aware of them,” said Liebermann. “A number of companies reached out to me because they’d read about the case. They said it was a great lesson and they’ve since implemented security measures so he couldn’t do the same thing to them.”

Pena and Moore are not the only ones who have found that hacking into other networks to be lucrative – at least for a time. TMCnet reported last April that Michael Faulkner, Brian Haney, Nathan Shafer and Michael Bowden, all of Texas, were arrested by the FBI in March for stealing more than 120 million minutes of telephone service from AT&T and Verizon (News - Alert) and reselling those minutes to consumers.