Schrooten hacker convicted and Got 12 Year Jail sentence

The modus operandi of Schrooten and his accomplices was to sell the illegally acquired credit card numbers to their clients who were also criminals themselves.

They (Schrooten and his accomplices) therefore, became the credit card suppliers of the cybercrime world.

According to the investigations that were done, an estimate of thousands of people were victimized by the said group and they were not confined in one region.

It was also estimated that the amount of money involved in their illegal activity amounted up to $63 million dollars. 

Their operation was worldwide and so as their victims.

In fact, Schrooten was arrested in Romania and was just extradited in the United States.

Known by the name of Fortezzaï in the cybercrime underground world

Schrooten (only 22 years of age) was able to accumulate over 100,000 credit card numbers by hacking the computers of his victims.

Among the charges that were filed against him were Conspiracy to Commit Access Device Fraud and Bank Fraud, Aggravated Identity Theft, and Intentional Damage to a Protected Computer.

The accomplices of David Benjamin Schrooten were Christopher A.

Schroebel (21 years of age) and Charles Tony Williamson (33 years of age). Christopher A.

Schroebel was from Keedysville, Maryland, while Charles Tony Williamson was from Torrance, California.

duo’s procedure (Schrooten  and Schroebel) involved Schroebel’s role of hacking into the computers’ system by using malicious software.

Such software was difficult to detect and it enabled Schroebel to get the credit card numbers of their victims. 

Once the credit card numbers had been acquired, it will now be the role of Schrooten (with the help of Schroebel) to market it. Schroebel therefore handled the procurement division, while  

Charles Tony Williamson participation was  purchasing and using stolen credit card numbers.

Schroebel was tried last August and was sentenced to 7 years in prison (84 months).

On the other hand, Charles Tony Williamson is scheduled to be tried this coming spring for offenses like Bank Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft.