Two Teenage GhostMarket Members Sentenced in UK

Two teenage members of the GhostMarket underground forum were sentenced last Friday in a UK court for breaking into the online systems of several companies to steal credit card data.

Zachary Woodham, 19, and Louis Tobenhouse, 18, were arrested on 23 December 2010, following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service's Police Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU) that began in April 2009.

The investigation began after Woodham attacked a web hosting company called Punkyhosting for several weeks and even taunted its employees via email.

After being alerted of the incident, the PCeU determined that Woodham was using the online handle of 'Colonel Root' on GhostMarket, a forum where cyber criminals exchange tools and information.

A search warrant was executed at his home in Brighton and information gathered from his computer led authorities to his partner, Tobenhouse.

Evidence was found that the two hackers targeted many online casinos and betting companies, as well as web hosting firms.

Thousands of stolen credit card details were found on their computers, and further examination determined that Woodham was using them to buy access to premium rate chat lines which he owned.

According to police investigators, the pair posted tutorials on GhostMarket about hacking into websites, committing fraud and evading authorities.

The two pleaded guilty in December to several offenses under the Computer Misuse Act, Fraud Act, Serious Crime Act and Proceeds of Crime Act.

Woodham received a one-year suspended prison sentence and 240 hours of unpaid work for modifying a computer without authorization and another six-month suspended sentence plus 120 hrs unpaid work for encouraging crime. They are to be served concurrently.

Tobenhouse received two sentences of 200 hrs of unpaid work and a 12 month community service for encouraging crime and possessing articles of fraud.

Four other young GhostMarket members were sentenced in March. They are Nick Webber, 19, Gary Kelly, 21, Shakira Ricardo, 21, and Ryan Thomas, 18 and their combined sentences amount to 15 years in prison.