34-year-old Iulian Schiopu, from Romania, was sentenced to 45 months in prison for participating in a criminal organization and financial fraud through phishing, to the detriment of customers of well-known American banks.
Schiopu participated in a criminal organization with a composition of at least nineteen individuals, which targeted large financial institutions and companies, such as Citibank, Capital One, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase & Co, Comerica Bank, Regions Bank, LaSalle Bank, US Bank, Wells Fargo & Co., eBay and PayPal, through phishing campaigns.
According to court documents, the criminals informed prospective victims that access to their online bank account had been blocked and then asked them for various details to restore it.
These details were actually used to siphon money from the victims' accounts.
The police investigation uncovered thousands of emails with data collected from victims: credit and debit card numbers, CVV codes, PIN numbers and card expiration dates. Additional personally identifiable information, such as names, addresses, phone numbers, dates of birth and social security numbers, was also found,
Schiopu was arrested in Sweden on May 7 and was extradited to the United States on September 12, 2013.
