Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Three Romanian citizens sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a multi-million dollar
Three Romanian citizens sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a multi-million dollar computer hacking and fraud schemeATLANTA - Teodor Laurentiu Costea, Robert Codrut Dumitrescu, and Cosmin Draghici have been sentenced to federal prison on wire fraud conspiracy, computer fraud and abuse, and aggravated identity theft charges. Their scheme originated from Romania and resulted in the illegal intrusion into computer servers in the United States. They also deployed phishing messages to thousands of victims and subsequently stole victims’ social security numbers and bank account information.
“These defendants sought to victimize citizens of the Northern District of Georgia and ultimately across the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak. “We are warning cyber-criminals no matter where they reside, that this office and our law-enforcement partners are committed to finding you, extraditing you to this district, and prosecuting you.”
“The FBI won’t let geographic boundaries stop us from pursuing and prosecuting those persons who cause tremendous financial pain to U.S. citizens,” said Chris Hacker, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta. “These three criminals felt like they were safe in Romania hiding behind their computers. Hopefully their sentences send a message to anyone who thinks they can prey on our citizens from afar and get away with it.”
According to U.S. Attorney Pak, the charges, and other information presented in court: From approximately October 2011 through February 2014, Robert Codrut Dumitrescu, Teodor Laurentiu Costea and Cosmin Draghici conducted a “vishing” and “smishing” scheme from Romania. “Vishing” is a type of phishing scheme that communicates a phishing message, or a message that purports to be from a legitimate source, in this case the victims’ banks, through a voice recording. “Smishing” is similar to “vishing,” but communicates a phishing message through text messages.
Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga/pr/three-romanian-citizens-sentenced-federal-prison-their-roles-multi-million-dollar