Jose Santana Pleads Guilty In Cell Phone Fraud Scheme

Florida resident Jose Santana has pleaded guilty to a cell phone fraud scheme that involved making international calls on accounts acquired through fraudulent means, and personally causing $150,000 in losses to victims across the US. Santana is the second person after Edwin Fana to plead guilty in the case dubbed Operation Toll Free.

A US Department of Justice (DoJ) release said Santana and his co-conspirators committed identity theft stealing personal details of cell phone customers and configured them to make international calls to countries with high calling rates like Cuba, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.

Using the alias Octavio Perez, Santana carried out the illegal operations from a “call site” in his West Palm Beach home. He also admitted receiving more than 1,000 emails between December 2010 and October 2011 with the stolen data.

For details, read the DoJ release.