Brockton Man Pleads Guilty To Operating Cybercriminal Scheme

BROCKTON, MA — A Brockton man pleaded guilty Wednesday to operating a nationwide scheme to steal social media accounts and thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency, said the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts in a news release.

Eric Meiggs, 23, pleaded guilty to four counts of wire fraud and one count each of conspiracy, computer fraud and abuse, and aggravated identity theft.

The indictment alleges that Meiggs and co-conspirators targeted at least 10 victims and stole, or attempted to steal, over $530,000 in cryptocurrency and OG social media account names by using SIM swapping, an illegal practice that involves convincing a victim's cell phone carrier to reassign their number to another phone and posing as the victim to resent login credentials.

Meiggs is scheduled to be sentenced on September 15.