MIAMI, Fla. (CBS12) — A Miami man was sentenced for fraud on Friday after the FBI found 450 stolen accounts and fake IDs inside a padlocked room.
According to the Department of Justice, 33-year-old McKenzie Monestine pleaded guilty in December to possessing over 15 unauthorized access devices and aggravated identity theft, stemming from a 2020 FBI investigation.
He was sentenced to 55 months in prison with three years of supervised release on Friday.
The charges reportedly stemmed from a 2020 FBI investigation.
In June 2020, the FBI executed a search warrant at Monestine’s home, where they found evidence of large-scale fraud inside a padlocked room.
Agents say they located social security numbers, account passwords, driver license numbers, phone numbers, bank account numbers, credit and debit card numbers, and dates of birth belonging to other individuals.
Most of the fraud was allegedly…
Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) on every sensitive account, specifically your primary email and banking apps, opting for authenticator apps over SMS to mitigate the risk of SIM-swap fraud.
