Hackers
got Bill Gates' credit card info
By Reuters
UPDATED March 27, 2000 3:57 AM PT
Self-styled 'Saint of E-commerce'
arrested for e-biz hacks, e-mailed credit card
details, including those of Gates, to NBCi.
LONDON, -- A teenager arrested in Wales
for allegedly hacking into e-commerce Web sites had
obtained the credit card details of Bill Gates, head
of Microsoft Corp. and the world's richest man,
newspapers said on Sunday.
Raphael Gray, 18, was arrested on
Saturday for Internet fraud after a joint operation
between the FBI and Welsh Police.
The FBI said on Saturday that losses
connected to the activities of Gray and another
unnamed 18-year-old could exceed $3 million.
The 'Saint of E-commerce'
But Gray, the self-styled
"Saint of E-commerce," said: "I just
wanted to prove how insecure these sites are. I have
done the honest thing, but I have been ignored."
Gray and his accomplice e-mailed
credit card details, including those of Gates, to NBCi,
a subsidiary of the NBC broadcasting group, the paper
said.
The 18-year-olds used the screen
name "Curador" -- Welsh for custodian -- and
allegedly hacked into nine e-commerce Web sites around
the world, stealing credit card information related to
more than 26,000 accounts from Web sites in the United
States, Canada, Thailand, Japan and Britain.
Joint international effort
The arrests stemmed from an FBI
investigation conducted with the Welsh police, the
Royal Canadian Mounted Police and Internet security
consultants, the FBI said, adding that the
international banking and credit card industry also
provided substantial cooperation.
The FBI was still investigating a wave
of cyber-attacks last month that disrupted some of the
Internet's most popular sites.
The FBI's own Web site was attacked
on March 14, the same day the agency celebrated the
50th anniversary of its "Ten Most Wanted
Fugitives" list, which is publicized on the site,
FBI officials said.
Gray and the other man were
questioned and have been released on bail.
TOP
