A 28-year-old man was sentenced to more than nine years in prison Wednesday for buying stolen credit and debit card numbers from an underground online marketplace.
Cameron Harrison of Augusta, Georgia, pleaded guilty in April to participating in a racketeer-influenced corrupt organization and trafficking in false identification documents. He was also ordered to pay $50.8 million in restitution.
Harrison was one of 55 people charged in four indictments related to Carder.su, a marketplace for stolen identity documents, equipment to make documents, stolen bank account information and payment card data.
He was caught after he purchased a counterfeit Georgia driver's license from an undercover agent on Carder.su.
Twenty six people have been convicted, while the remainder are either pending trial or haven't been arrested. The DOJ estimated the group caused more than $50 million in damage.
The group behind Carder.su ran a host of affiliated forums and chatrooms that used encrypted email and VPNs to shield their activities, according to a memorandum outlining Harrison's guilty plea.
Harrison, who went by the nickname "Kilobit," admitted to buying credit card and other personal data, the DOJ said. Investigators found more than 260 credit and debit card numbers on his computer and in his email account. He also admitted to selling counterfeit IDs as part of another organization called the ShadowCrew.
Send news tips and comments to jeremy_kirk@idg.com. Follow me on Twitter: @jeremy_kirk
Join the CIO Australia group on LinkedIn. The group is open to CIOs, IT Directors, COOs, CTOs and senior IT managers.