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A former U.S. Army contractor identified as Fredrick Brown got sentenced to 12.5 years months in prison.
He admitted to having played an important role in a conspiracy that targeted thousands of U.S. service members and veterans causing millions of dollars in losses.
What Happened?
According to a 14-count indictment unsealed in August 2019, Fredrick Brown was one of five fraudsters charged with carrying out an identity theft and fraud scheme that targeted “service members (active duty, reserve component, and National Guard) and veterans, their dependents, and civilians employed by the Department of Defense.”
Brown pled guilty in October 2019, admitting that between July 2014 and September 2015, he took personal identifying information (PII) from thousands of service personnel, including “their names, social security numbers, DOD ID numbers, dates of birth, and contact information.”
He gathered the PII by taking photos of his screen while being logged into his Armed Forces Health Longitudinal Technology Application account.
The theft of personally identifiable information can significantly harm our military service members, veterans and their families.
This sentencing resulted from the coordinated actions of the DCIS, Cyber Field Office, and our partner agencies, which included the full support of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, and the Veterans Benefits Administration’s Benefits Protection and Remediation Division. This collaboration demonstrated this U.S. Government’s commitment to swift action against those who attempt to enrich themselves at the expense of our current and prior military personnel.
BleepingComputer reports that Brown sent the stolen data to co-defendant Robert Wayne Boling Jr. and other members of the multinational fraud ring, who used it to create and breach Defense Self-Service Logon accounts for military personnel.
This allowed the conspiracy member to gain access to U.S. military community benefits information via the Department of Defense site, allowing him to steal millions of dollars from veterans’ pension and disability benefits payments, as well as bank accounts of U.S. military personnel.
The defendant brazenly preyed on and victimized U.S. servicemembers and veterans, many of whom were disabled and elderly. As part of our mission, we strive to protect these honorable men and women from fraud and abuse.”
Victims included at least eight general officers, as well as numerous disabled veterans, who were targeted because of their receipt of greater service-related benefits.
The defendants also used a variety of bank accounts and money transfers for financial activities in order to hide and launder the stolen money.
Multiple counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft were filed against Brown and his co-defendants.
Brown was sentenced to 151 months in prison and was also forced to pay $2,331,639.85 in restitution. He will also be placed on supervised release for three years following his release.
Dora is a digital marketing specialist within Heimdal™ Security. She is a content creator at heart - always curious about technology and passionate about finding out everything there is to know about cybersecurity.
