ARIN uncovers over 757,760 IPv4 addresses obtained through a fraud scheme

• ARIN has uncovered a fraud scheme through which almost 757,760 IPv4 addresses worth between $9,850,880 and $14,397,440 were fraudulently obtained.
• The two accused parties behind the fraud scheme, Amir Golestan and Micfo, are charged in federal court in a twenty-counts of wire fraud indictment, with each count punishable by up to 20 years of imprisonment.

What is the issue?

American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN), an NGO that distributes Internet number resources, has uncovered a fraud scheme in late-2018. Almost 757,760 IPv4 addresses worth between $9,850,880 and $14,397,440 were fraudulently obtained in this scheme.

ARIN distributes Internet number resources such as IPv4, IPv6, and Autonomous System numbers to organizations across the United States, Canada, and the Caribbean and North Atlantic islands.

The big picture

ARIN was able to uncover and revoke the fraudulently obtained IPv4 addresses following the arbitration under an ARIN Registration Services Agreement in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.

ARIN noted that some of the defrauded IPv4 addresses had been transferred to bonafide purchasers out of the ARIN region.

According to the Department of Justice (DoJ) press release, the two accused parties behind the fraud scheme, Amir Golestan and Micfo, are charged in federal court in a twenty-counts of wire fraud indictment, with each count punishable by up to 20 years of imprisonment.

“The indictment alleges that since February 2014, Golestan and Micfo created and utilized ‘Channel Partners’ which purported to consist of several individual businesses, all of whom acquired the right to IP addresses from the American Registry of Internet Numbers (ARIN),” the press release read.

ARIN President and CEO John Curran said that they are investigating suspected cases of fraud against ARIN and will revoke and report the illegal activity to law enforcement authorities.

“Fraud will not be tolerated. The vast majority of organizations obtain their address space from ARIN in good faith according to the policies set out by the community. However, ARIN detected fraud as a result of internal due diligence processes, and took action to respond in this particularly egregious case,” Curran said.