Industry News Home More stories like this... RSS Feed

US completes first prosecution of foreign phisher

A Romanian hacker has become the first overseas national to be convicted by a US court for the crime of phishing.

The landmark case saw a 23-year-old Romanian arrested in Bulgaria and extradited to the US for setting up a number of fake banking sites, from which he then sent out thousands of fraudulent messages in a bid to trick victims into parting with sensitive information.

Following on from a lengthy case, the United States District Court in Connecticut has only now found the fraudster guilty, handing down a five-year prison sentence.

In a statement issued to the court, one victim explained: "Above all else is the helplessness, knowing that all my personal information is forever now in the public domain.

"[T]his is a huge invasion of privacy, and as such it has caused me a great deal of anxiety."

According to Network World, computer security experts in the US now believe central and eastern Europe to be one of the biggest growth areas for online crime, with Romania and Bulgaria in particular home to thousands of online criminals.

PC Tools anti virus software offers high security and protection for your home or office. Visit www.pctools.com to upgrade your protection