Two former researchers at an aerospace firm have been jailed for hacking into SIM cards and profiting by more than 100,000 yuan ($14,391) from making overseas calls and getting rebates, according to Pudong New Area People's Court.
It convicted the two of larceny, sentencing one surnamed Yao, 39, to five years and the other surnamed Liu, 43, to two years with a two-year reprieve.
The court said Yao used his knowledge about loopholes in SIM cards to run his scam. In January, he made two pieces of equipment that could hack into SIM cards of people around him, and then dialled overseas numbers via their phones.
Liu helped him to search for overseas service providers that offered rebates to the dialers, asking the providers to transfer the rebates to Yao's bank account.
Between January and March, the two men had hacked into more than 5,000 users, causing them to lose a total of about 280,000 yuan, with themselves profiting by more than 100,000 yuan, the court said.
