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According to the charges, Jeffrey Brett Goodin of Azusa, Calif., used the fraudulently obtained information to make unauthorized charges using the credit and debit cards of his victims. He allegedly tricked his victims, all of whom were America Online subscribers, by sending e-mails urging them to "update" their AOL billing information or lose their service--a scam known as phishing.
As is typical with such schemes, the e-mails allegedly sent by Goodin appeared to have come from AOL's billing department, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles that announced the arrest. The e-mails, which were sent by the thousands, directed recipients to phony Web sites operated by the sender, and prompted potential victims to enter personal information, including credit card and debit card numbers.
"Clearly, AOL is pleased by today's action," Nicholas Graham, AOL spokesman, said in a statement. "We worked cooperatively with law enforcement on this case as part of our successful ongoing efforts to crack down on phishing and identity theft."
Goodin, 45, is charged with wire fraud and the unauthorized use of an access device--in this case, a credit card. If convicted of both offenses, he faces a maximum penalty of 30 years in federal prison. The FBI, the Secret Service and police in Ontario, Calif., all helped investigate the case.
Phishers, who lure victims by posing as legitimate companies, have become a major scourge of the Internet along with spam, viruses and spyware. A recent study showed that online fraudsters launched a record number of phishing scams last year, with nearly 17,000 unique e-mail-based fraud attacks detected in November alone, according to the Anti-Phishing Working Group. Roughly one in four U.S. Internet users is a target of a phishing scam, according to another recent study.
The perpetrators are hard to catch, but efforts to bust them have intensified lately. Aided by Microsoft, Bulgarian police nabbed eight people last week who allegedly targeted MSN customers in an international phishing operation.
See more CNET content tagged:
phishing, America Online Inc., debit card, victim, California
If the government promotes that any one can use internet, then the "any one" web users shouldn't be the victims of internet crimes.
intellect, as in the way you portray yourself. Unfortunately, there
are many people who know little, if anything, about networking
and URL mysteries.
Maybe, instead of blaming the victims of Internet scams for
being for being idiots, you should use your towering intellect to
devise a solution.
Sadly, people who blame victims of crimes for their misfortune
are never there when it comes time to devise solutions. Given
you mentality, if you get hit by a car while walking across the
street, in the crosswalk, it is your fault because you should have
known that the driver of the car that hit you was incompetent.
This is akin to the seniors who are constantly being swindled by high pressure con artists. To take advantage of the weakest is truly despicable but then to blame them for being trusting is unconscionable.
I am not a violent person but this type of thing makes me see red. If ever there was a reason to have a good old public caning this (and other types predatory behavior) is it.
Harsh Huh?
If the government promotes that any one can use internet, then the "any one" web users shouldn't be the victims of internet crimes.
intellect, as in the way you portray yourself. Unfortunately, there
are many people who know little, if anything, about networking
and URL mysteries.
Maybe, instead of blaming the victims of Internet scams for
being for being idiots, you should use your towering intellect to
devise a solution.
Sadly, people who blame victims of crimes for their misfortune
are never there when it comes time to devise solutions. Given
you mentality, if you get hit by a car while walking across the
street, in the crosswalk, it is your fault because you should have
known that the driver of the car that hit you was incompetent.
This is akin to the seniors who are constantly being swindled by high pressure con artists. To take advantage of the weakest is truly despicable but then to blame them for being trusting is unconscionable.
I am not a violent person but this type of thing makes me see red. If ever there was a reason to have a good old public caning this (and other types predatory behavior) is it.
Harsh Huh?
I know many of them use known loopholes in IE security to even spoof the URL.
The scams prey on people with a good, trusting nature, the ones that want to pay their bills on time and not have their services cut off.
To blame the victims of phishing scams instead of the scammers themselves and is no better than blaming a robbery victim instead of the robber.
The bottom line is: these guys are criminals, and they should be punished appropriately for their crimes.
I know many of them use known loopholes in IE security to even spoof the URL.
The scams prey on people with a good, trusting nature, the ones that want to pay their bills on time and not have their services cut off.
To blame the victims of phishing scams instead of the scammers themselves and is no better than blaming a robbery victim instead of the robber.
The bottom line is: these guys are criminals, and they should be punished appropriately for their crimes.
- feds arrest internet id thief
- by Sye230 January 28, 2006 11:59 PM PST
- America Online is constantly warning us about giving out our billing information. I cannot believe that any America Online subscriber would be so stupid to do so.
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