Fergie's Tech Blog

Romanian Phisher Confesses To Scam Targeting Financial Giants

Dan Goodin writes on The Register:

A Romanian man has admitted he took part in a sophisticated phishing scam that targeted PayPal and at least nine other financial institutions by tricking their customers into giving up their account credentials.

Ovidiu-Ionut Nicola-Roman, 22, of Craiova, Romania, pleaded guilty in federal court in Bridgeport, Connecticut, on Tuesday to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud. He faces a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000, although prosecutors agreed to recommend a reduced sentence if he complies with the terms of his plea agreement.

In an indictment filed in January, Nicola-Roman and six other Romanians were accused of running a well-organized operation that involved a combination of social engineering and computer hacking. An email purporting to come from the Brattleboro Savings & Loan Ass'n, for instance, informed customers their online accounts were temporarily unavailable while administrators upgraded the system.

posted by Fergie @ 7/23/2008 12:08:00 PM