GUCCIFER GOES TO JAIL

Thursday, September 1, 2016

Romanian Hacker “Guccifer” Sentenced to 52 Months in Prison for Computer Hacking Crimes

Marcel Lehel Lazar, 44, of Arad, Romania, a hacker who used the online moniker “Guccifer,” was sentenced today to 52 months in prison for unauthorized access to a protected computer and aggravated identity theft.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney Dana J. Boente of the Eastern District of Virginia, Assistant Director in Charge Paul M. Abbate of the FBI’s Washington Field Office, Director Bill A. Miller of the U.S. Department of State’s Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) and Special Agent in Charge Brian J. Ebert of the U.S. Secret Service’s Washington Field Office made the announcement.

Lazar pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge James C. Cacheris of the Eastern District of Virginia on May 25, 2016.

According to admissions made in connection with his plea agreement, from at least October 2012 to January 2014, Lazar intentionally gained unauthorized access to personal email and social media accounts belonging to approximately 100 Americans, and he did so to unlawfully obtain his victims’ personal information and email correspondence.  Lazar’s victims included an immediate family member of two former U.S. presidents, a former member of the U.S. Cabinet, a former member of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and a former presidential advisor, he admitted.  In many instances, Lazar publically released his victims’ private email correspondence, medical and financial information and personal photographs, according to the statement of facts filed with his plea agreement.

The FBI, DSS and the Secret Service investigated the case.  Senior Counsel Ryan K. Dickey and Peter V. Roman of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maya D. Song and Jay V. Prabhu of the Eastern District of Virginia are prosecuting the case.  The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided significant assistance.  The Justice Department thanks the government of Romania for their assistance in this matter.

VIETNAMESE NATIONAL CHARGED IN INTERNATIONAL PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE INFORMATION THEFT SCHEME

FROM:  U.S. JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
Friday, October 18, 2013

Vietnamese National Charged in Widespread International Scheme to Steal and Sell Hundreds of Thousands of U.s. Persons’ Personally Identifiable Information
A Vietnamese national has been indicted in the District of New Hampshire for allegedly participating in an international scheme to steal and sell hundreds of thousands of Americans’ personally identifiable information (PII) through various underground websites that he operated.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney John P. Kacavas of the District of New Hampshire, and Resident Agent in Charge Holly Fraumeni of the U.S. Secret Service’s Manchester Field Office made the announcement after the indictment was unsealed.

Hieu Minh Ngo, 24, a Vietnamese national, was charged in a 15-count indictment filed under seal in November 2012, charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, substantive wire fraud, conspiracy to commit identity fraud, substantive identity fraud, aggravated identity theft, conspiracy to commit access device fraud, and substantive access device fraud.  Ngo was arrested upon his entry into the United States in February 2013.  The statutory maximum penalties are five years on the identity fraud and identity fraud conspiracy counts, two years each on the aggravated identity theft counts, 20 years on the wire fraud count and wire fraud conspiracy counts, 10 years on the substantive access device fraud count and five years on the conspiracy to commit access device fraud count.

According to the indictment, from 2007 through 2012, Ngo and other members of the conspiracy acquired, offered for sale, sold, and/or transferred to others packages of PII for more than 500,000 individuals.  These packages, known as “fullz,” typically included a person’s name, date of birth, social security number, bank account number and bank routing number.  During this same time, Ngo and other members of the conspiracy acquired, offered for sale, sold, and/or transferred to others stolen payment card data, which typically included the victim account holder’s payment card number, expiration date, card verification value number, account holder name, account holder address and phone number.

The indictment alleges that Ngo operated one or more online marketplaces for various carding activities, known as carder forums, where he stored and offered for sale “fullz” and other PII, including “fullz” of individuals located in the District of New Hampshire.  On two carder forums, Ngo and his co-conspirators offered buyers the option to obtain a specified quantity of “fullz” or to submit a query of a particular name to obtain that person’s associated PII.  Ngo and his co-conspirators allegedly offered several categories of PII, depending on how recently the data had been acquired, and charged higher prices for more recent data.  Ngo allegedly made arrangements with others who, after paying a fee, could access and then and re-sell the stolen payment card data, “fullz” and other PII.  Ngo and his co-conspirators created one or more accounts with a digital currency service and used those accounts to receive funds for the stolen payment card data, “fullz” and other PII that they sold.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Mona Sedky of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Arnold H. Huftalen of the District of New Hampshire.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations.  The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

CREDIT CARD TRAFFICKER RECEIVES 88 MONTH PRISON SENTENCE

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Friday, April 5, 2013

International Credit Card Trafficker Sentenced to 88 Months in Prison
Vladislav Anatolievich Horohorin, aka "BadB," was sentenced today to serve 88 months in prison for trafficking in millions of stolen credit and debit cards and for his role in the theft of more than $9 million dollars from an Atlanta-based credit card processor.

The sentence was announced by Acting Assistant Attorney General Mythili Raman of the Justice Department's Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Ronald C. Machen Jr., U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia Sally Quillian Yates, U.S. Secret Service Assistant Director for Investigations David J. O’Connor and Special Agent in Charge Mark F. Giuliano of the FBI’s Atlanta Field Office.

Horohorin, 30, a citizen of Russia, Israel and Ukraine, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle in the District of Columbia. In addition to his prison term, Horohorin was ordered to pay $125,739 in restitution and sentenced to two years of supervised release.

Horohorin was indicted by a federal grand jury in the District of Columbia in November 2009 on charges of access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. In a separate investigation, a federal grand jury in the Northern District of Georgia returned a superseding indictment against Horohorin in August 2010, charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and access device fraud. In August 2010, French law enforcement authorities, working with the U.S. Secret Service, identified Horohorin in Nice, France, and arrested him as he was attempting to board a flight to return to Moscow. Horohorin was extradited to the United States on June 6, 2012. After Horohorin’s arrival in the United States, the two cases pending against him were consolidated in Washington, D.C.

On Oct. 25, 2012, Horohorin pleaded guilty to two counts of access device fraud as well as conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

According to Horohorin’s plea agreement, he used online criminal forums to sell stolen credit and debit card information, known as "dumps," to online purchasers around the world. Horohorin, using the online name "BadB," advertised the availability of stolen credit and debit card information through these online forums and directed purchasers to create accounts at "dumps.name," a fully-automated dumps vending website operated by Horohorin and hosted outside the United States. At the time of his arrest, Horohorin possessed more than 2.5 million stolen credit and debit card numbers.

Horohorin admitted that he was one of the lead cashers in an elaborate scheme in which counterfeit payroll debit cards were used to withdraw more than $9 million from ATMs around the world. Hackers broke into the computers of a credit card processor located in the Atlanta area, stole debit card account numbers and raised the balances and withdrawal limits on those accounts while distributing the account numbers and PIN codes to cashers, like Horohorin. Horohorin, and those he recruited, used one of the stolen account numbers to withdraw more than $125,000 from ATMs in and around Moscow.

The District of Columbia case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorneys Ethan Arenson, Carol Sipperly and Corbin Weiss of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS). Weiss also serves as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. The District of Columbia case was investigated by the U.S. Secret Service. Key assistance was provided by the French Police Nationale Aux Frontiers and the Netherlands Police Agency National Crime Squad High Tech Crime Unit. The FBI Atlanta field office provided information helpful to the investigation.

The Northern District of Georgia case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Nick Oldham and Lawrence R. Sommerfeld of the Northern District of Georgia, and Trial Attorney Sipperly of CCIPS. The Atlanta case was investigated by the FBI. Assistance was provided by numerous law enforcement partners. The U.S. Secret Service provided information helpful to the investigation.