AT&T has got their hands on a big fish in terms of enforcing system and network protections.
Reporting in The Verge today shows an individual named Muhammad Fahd has been extradited to the U.S. from Hong Kong on charges that he paid large sums of money, in one instance nearly $500,000, to AT&T employees to unlock devices.
“Initially, the DOJ says that Fahd would simply provide the AT&T insiders with phone International Mobile Equipment Identity (IMEI) numbers, and they would use the company’s internal systems to unlock these devices,” writes Jon Porter in detailing the hack. “However, after all but one of his contacts were fired by the company, Fahd worked with his remaining co-conspirator to install malware that would allow him to unlock the phones remotely.”
Another defendant, Ghulam Jiwan, is reported to have possibly died in the years since this scheme was in practice.
Part of the confusion over the legality of unlocking phones has to do with changes and vague enforcement.
Reporting from Digital Trends shows that the FTC has ruled that a phone can be legally unlocked after the contract is over.
However, it’s the process that led AT&T to charge Fahd and conspirators.
AT&T currently allows users to submit a request to unlock a phone via an unlock request form available online.
However, plans like those initiated by Fahd and company have had consumers unlocking phones on their own for many years.
This landmark phone ‘jailbreaking’ case shows some of the complexities that telecom carriers face in protecting themselves from loss of revenue due to consumers unlocking their phones and leaving the walled garden for greener pastures.
If he is found guilty, he could face up to 20 years in prison.
