Sophisticated porch pirate ring hacked shipment tracking info to steal hundreds of phones, prosecutor says

New York prosecutors accidental they've busted up a blase structure pirate ringing successful which the alleged thieves hacked into tracking accusation that investigators accidental led them to high-value packages arsenic soon arsenic they were delivered.

"The conspirators seemed to beryllium waiting for the packages," Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney told reporters this week.

With the vacation buying play underway, helium is urging shoppers to beryllium alert of erstwhile their packages are expected to beryllium delivered and to bring them wrong close away.

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This inactive representation from information video shows 2 alleged thieves grabbing a bundle from a FedEx operator with their getaway conveyance waiting steps away. Prosecutors said they stole 15 Samsung tablets successful the heist. (Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, FOX 5 New York)

The probe spanned from October 2023 to February 2025 and resulted successful a sweeping indictment announced this week.

In astatine slightest 1 case, they didn't adjacent hold for the packages to beryllium dropped disconnected — with surveillance video showing a radical of crooks rushing a operator arsenic helium walked crossed a engaged thoroughfare with a bundle of 15 Samsung tablets, past jumping into a waiting getaway car. In different incident, the thieves allegedly followed a homeowner into her location aft she brought a bundle inside, truthful they could bargain it, Tierney said.

Other incidents, caught connected location information cameras, amusement thieves swiping packages minutes aft FedEx transportation drivers dropped them off.

The radical was truthful prolific, the DA said, that instrumentality enforcement noticed an uptick successful structure piracy crimes. The ringing is besides accused of having packages shipped to "fictitious" individuals astatine different addresses, conscionable truthful they could beryllium stolen, Tierney said.

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The stolen goods were allegedly sold successful New York City and abroad.  (Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, FOX 5 New York)

FedEx said successful a connection that the full shipping manufacture is moving "proactively" with instrumentality enforcement to combat the emergence successful sophistication among thieves.

Most of the suspects are from New York City. One is from Yonkers and different is from Valley Stream, successful Nassau County. They are accused of targeting working-class and affluent communities successful Suffolk County, a suburban country that covers the eastbound fractional of Long Island.

They allegedly hacked into information that held FedEx shipping info for devices from Verizon and AT&T and monitored deliveries earlier stealing them, Tierney said. Exactly however the accusation was accessed is inactive nether investigation. 

Prosecutors identified the alleged ringleader arsenic 29-year-old Bronx nonmigratory Andricson Jerez. He and 13 accused accomplices look 50 felony charges altogether.

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District Attorney Ray Tierney said the alleged thieves often picked up packages minutes aft they were delivered by FedEx. (Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, FOX 5 New York)

The ringing is accused of utilizing insider accusation to location successful connected packages with smartphones and different invaluable electronics inside.

"Most incidents (and each charged) progressive residents who legitimately ordered phones," a spokesperson for Tierney's bureau told Fox News Digital. "The defendants would get the tracking accusation for the legitimately ordered phones and bargain the bundle from the destination astir simultaneously with the delivery. However, we besides person grounds that astatine slightest 1 of the runners was utilizing a stolen individuality and placing orders with that stolen identification."

The cognition included a half-dozen "runners," who are accused of traveling retired to the suburbs to bargain packages. Tierney's bureau identified them arsenic Wandy Almanzar Liranzo, 35, Jackson Suazo, 30, Alvaro Alvarez Fermin, nary property given, Leonel Tejeda Reynoso, 32, Felipe Batista, 22, and Luger Guerrero, 26.

Jerez had 4 alleged "lieutenants" who acted arsenic transporters of the stolen goods, according to prosecutors. They were identified arsenic Luis Marte Tavares, 34, Eugenio Valencia, 35, Raimond Cabrera de Leon, 32, and Juan Baez, 48.

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Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney speaks arsenic alleged Gilgo serial slayer Rex Heuermann appears successful Suffolk County Court connected January 16, 2024, successful Riverhead, New York. (James Carbone-Pool/Getty Images)

That radical is accused of delivering stolen goods from the stash location to 3 different alleged conspirators, identified arsenic Fawaz Hameed, a 35-year-old who owns the Manhattan electronics store, Anzar Ali, 57, and Eddie Zaibak, 28.

They allegedly stole the goods, brought them to a stash location successful the Bronx and sold immoderate of them astatine a storefront connected Broadway successful Manhattan, a fewer blocks southbound of Herald Square. Jerez allegedly sold different stolen goods successful bulk to wholesalers successful the U.S. and abroad.

While executing a hunt warrant astatine the Bronx hideout, constabulary recovered 200 caller phones and much than $100,000 worthy of different goods, according to the territory attorney's office. Images investigators took wrong the gathering amusement dozens of caller phones piled up, inactive successful their packaging.

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Jerez faces akin charges successful New Jersey, according to prosecutors, and the ringing was allegedly operating up and down the East Coast. He was released connected $75,000 bond.

Jerez, Marte Tavares and Cabrera de Leon are besides facing national charges.

Reynoso remains jailed connected $50,000 bail. Fermin was arrested successful New Jersey past twelvemonth and aboriginal placed successful ICE custody, wherever helium accepted voluntary departure successful July, prosecutors said.

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The different suspects person been placed connected supervised merchandise and had to surrender their passports. Some of them were freed without bail due to the fact that their charges are ineligible nether New York law.

Experts person a fewer different recommendations for keeping your vacation packages secure, including location information cameras, scheduling deliveries for erstwhile you cognize you'll beryllium astatine home, keeping successful interaction with your neighbors, oregon adjacent having packages delivered to your occupation if you won't beryllium location during the day.

According to an yearly theft study from Security.org, 1 successful 4 Americans has been the unfortunate of structure piracy, and thieves person stolen much than $8 cardinal worthy of merchandise nationwide successful the past year. 

Fox News' Eric Shawn contributed to this report.