A British man who was the mastermind of a six-man phishing gang
that stole nearly £200,000 has been sentenced to four years in
jail.
David Levi, 29, of Lytham near Blackpool, stole identities and
bank account information from more than 160 users of the popular
eBay auction website. Other members of the gang received jail
sentences of between six months and two years.
The gang set up a bogus website which posed as the real eBay
website in an attempt to steal user account information from
innocent customers. Levi and his cohorts then sent emails to
internet users, posing as communications from eBay itself, leading
them to the website.
"Phishing is big business for internet criminals, and there can
be few internet users who have not received a phoney email claiming
to come from an online bank or website," said Graham Cluley, senior
technology consultant for Sophos. "Criminals are attempting to
steal account information from innocent computer users, pilfering
passwords, PIN and credit card numbers from unwary internet
surfers."
Levi will serve a three year jail sentence for fraud, followed
by a one year term for perverting the course of justice.
Sophos recommends companies protect themselves with a consolidated solution which can defend businesses
from the threats of both spam and viruses.
Organizations concerned about being fraudulently represented in
phishing campaigns can sign up to the Sophos early warning system,
Sophos PhishAlert.
Sophos is headquartered in Boston, US and Oxford, UK. More information is available at www.sophos.com.