Fergie's Tech Blog

New Zealand: Hacker in $300,000 ATM Fraud Jailed For Three Years

Via The New Zealand Herald.

An Auckland computer hacker, who scammed hundreds of thousands of dollars and attracted the FBI to New Zealand, has been jailed for three years.

Thomasz Grygoruk, 22, was jailed on five charges of blackmail, document and computer fraud when he appeared in the High Court at Auckland yesterday.

Grygoruk spent five years and used an internet scam getting personal details from people to make A" cards. He then used the cards to withdraw up to $300,000.

The court heard he also got into the email account of an American teacher in Pennsylvania and tried to blackmail him, threatening to disclose details of a relationship with a student unless he was paid US$10,000 ($13,000). The relationship was not inappropriate.

Grygoruk had threatened to tell the teacher's local police and newspaper he was a paedophile who was romantically involved with the student.

The teacher called the FBI and an FBI agent pretended to be the teacher's accountant and later traced Grygoruk's New Zealand address.

The FBI also sent an agent to New Zealand last year to help with the case.

posted by Fergie @ 5/28/2008 07:04:00 PM