If you get caught fraudulently unlocking cell phone units that are tied up with the carrier you are working for, be prepared for a lawsuit to come your way. In this case, the parties involved are telecommunications company AT&T and three former employees. The three former employees have been accused of perpetuating the unlocking of thousands of mobile phone units tied up to AT&T.
According to PC Mag, the trio, MarcSapatin, Nguyen Lam and Kyra Evans, worked for AT&T in 2013 in an AT&T call center in Washingtonmoonlighted by helping other mobile resellers to unlock the phones. The three former employees of the company have used the scheme to earn money. A company called Swift Unlocks has reportedly paid the three for their services.
Evans was said to have been paid $20,000, while Sapatin got $10,000. Lam's fee remained unclear. AT&T has filed a lawsuit against all three, as well as Swift Unlocks. Daily Times Gazette reported that AT&T has been able to find out about the trio's activities because they have left evidence that subsequently alerted the heads of the telecommunications company. The lawsuit filed may lead to the arrest of Lam, Evans, Sapatin and Prashant Vira of Swift Unlocks.
AT&T's unlock lawsuit states that the defendants "perpetuated the Unlock Scheme" by spreading malware in AT&T work computers that transmit unauthorized requests for unlocking the devices. Sapatin has also been said to recruit another employee to work with them in the scheme. John Doe defendants have also been cited to have participated in the scheme.
AT&T said in its unlock lawsuit , citing a pre-installed software AT&T phones have, "The software is vital to AT&T's business because it allows AT&T to subsidize the cost of the phone to consumers while protecting AT&T's investment in the phones through term contracts." The company further added, "Through this conduct, the Unlock Scheme caused substantial damage to AT&T's protected computer systems and effectively stole AT&T's subsidy investment in its phones."
