Latest / Elon Musk Podcast / Criminals Busted Stealing $400,000 in Starlink Terminals

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Criminals Busted Stealing $400,000 in Starlink Terminals · Elon Musk Podcast

• 0:01
  Hey everybody. Welcome back to the Elon Musk
• 0:04
  podcast this. Is a show where we discuss the
• 0:07
  critical crossroads, the shape SpaceX.
• 0:09
  Tesla X, The Boring Company and Neuralink.
• 0:13
  And I'm your host, Will. Walden, if you want
• 0:16
  uninterrupted episodes of the Elon Musk podcast.
• 0:19
  Please go to club. Elon.supercast.com to find out
• 0:24
  how there's a link in the show notes.
• 0:27
  A New Jersey resident has been apprehended for the alleged
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  trafficking of a substantial number of SpaceX Starlink
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  terminals, estimated at 675 units, acquired through illicit
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  means, involving stolen credit card details and compromised
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  Starlink billing accounts. According to law enforcement
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  authorities, this guy, Kelvin Rodriguez Moya, 35, faced arrest
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  after being intercepted by the police on December 4th.
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  He was in possession of 223 Starlink terminals while driving
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  a big up truck and trailer shortly after departing from a
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  residence in Lawrence Township, NJ.
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  As stated in the criminal complaint now, the shipping
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  labels on the terminals indicated various names but were
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  all directed to a single address.
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  This anomaly raised suspicions and prompted the Lawrence
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  Township Police to initiate an investigation following a tip
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  off regarding the unusual volume of Starlink terminals being
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  delivered to one particular home.
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  Now, during the police surveillance, Rodriguez Moyo was
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  observed loading a FedEx consignment of the terminals
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  onto his vehicle and the police stop revealed the extent of this
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  operation, with Moya confessing that he was compensated $300 to
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  transport the terminals to Newark for resale purposes.
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  Now, the investigation uncovered that the total worth of the
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  Starlight terminals involved in this scheme amounted to
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  approximately $400,000. Bennett Wu from SpaceX,
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  responsible for payment risk and fraud, described the seizure of
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  the company's quote most extensive fraud recovery to
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  date, highlighting the significant scale of the
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  separation. Now, Lieutenant Kevin Redding of
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  the Lawrence Township Police provided insights into the
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  ongoing investigation, indicating that the case's
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  complexities are still being unraveled with the assistance of
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  SpaceX to understand the procurement process of these
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  terminals. Now, Starlink terminals are in
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  very high demand globally right now, offering high speed
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  Internet connectivity via Spacex's satellite constellation
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  and their significant extends beyond civilian years, though
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  attracting interest from military and governmental bodies
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  worldwide, further complicating the implications of such a
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  trafficking operation. Now the situation took an
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  international turn when Ukrainian intelligence reported
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  the use of Starlink terminals by Russian military forces in
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  occupied Ukrainian territories, a claim the SpaceX under Elon
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  Musk's leadership has denied, stating no direct or indirect
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  sales were made to Russia. And following his arrest,
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  Rodriguez Moya faces charges related to receiving and
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  trafficking stolen property, highlighting this serious nature
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  of the allegations against him. Now details emerge from a
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  recorded police interview where Rodriguez Moya recounted his
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  involvement with the Starlink terminals dating back to
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  November, introducing individual named Alberto who played a part
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  in orchestrating the shipments to the Roxboro Road address.
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  Now the Lawrence Township Police's discovery of the stolen
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  property resulted from a meticulously conducted 3 month
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  investigation leading to Rodriguez Moya's arrest and the
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  revelation of a sophisticated operation leveraging stolen
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  credit card information for acquiring the terminals.
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  Now, initial police alerts were triggered by the abnormal volume
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  of shipments to the Roxboro Road address, with subsequent
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  investigations revealing the online purchase and delivery
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  mechanism exploited by the perpetrators for their
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  operations. And the seizure of over 200
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  terminals during a vehicular stop marked a breakthrough in
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  this case, though they provided tangible evidence of the
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  trafficking operation and enabled the recovery of a
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  fraction of the stolen assets. Spacex's official statement on
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  the magnitude of the fraud recovery shows that this is
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  pretty big deal, and it's the largest operation within the
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  company's history, and it sets a new benchmark for fraud related
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  losses and recoveries for SpaceX and Starlink.
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  Now the progression saw involvement from federal
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  authorities too. With the FBI being notified,
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  indicating the potential broader ramifications of this case and
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  the interagency collaboration required to address such
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  sophisticated criminal activities, you have to wonder
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  what did they do with these terminals?
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  Who did they sell them to? Did they sell them out of the
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  United States? Those questions will hopefully
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  be answered in the months to come.
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  And despite attempts to reach Rodriguez Moya's legal
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  representatives for comments, there was no immediate response,
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  leaving many questions unanswered to us regarding his
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  defense and the allegations. Specifics now.
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  The use of the Lawrence Township location as a logistical hub for
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  the stolen properties distribution paints kind of a
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  picture of a well organized operation, leveraging the
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  anonymity and efficiency of online transactions to
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  perpetrate large scale fraud. Now Rodriguez Moya is awaiting
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  the detention hearing. The case remains A focal point
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  for law enforcement and also SpaceX.
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  They're coming for this guy, reflecting the ongoing
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  challenges in combating sophisticated digital fraud, in
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  the importance of safeguarding against such vulnerabilities in
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  an increasingly connected world. And also Starlink.
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  They're worth a lot of money. People want to get their hands
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  on them. Sometimes it's hard to get them.
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  When I was in Boca Chica, Texas, when I lived in Brownsville and
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  I was covering Spacex's Starship, I would have thought I
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  could have gotten a Starlink immediately, because that's
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  where SpaceX is based. Almost.
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  But I had to wait almost a year just to get signed up for a
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  terminal. And my sister, who lives in
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  rural New York, she had to wait two years for hers.
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  Finally got it. But they're in high demand still
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  now. The arrest of Calvin Rodiguez
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  Moya in New Jersey for trafficking stolen SpaceX
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  Starlink terminals. It's a complex issue.
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  It's a huge operation, hundreds of thousands of dollars, and the
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  investigation is ongoing. We'll keep you up to date here
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  on the Elon Musk Podcast. Hey, thank you.
• 6:38
  So much for listening today. I really do appreciate your.
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  And please take care of yourselves and each other and
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  I'll see you tomorrow.