14 DAY TRIAL // Atlanta police have arrested and charged Aaron James Glende with selling access to hacked accounts on AlphaBay, a Dark Web portal where criminals advertise illegal products such as drugs, weapons, hacking tools, and passwords to compromised accounts.
According to the US Department of Justice indictment, Glende, using the nickname IcyEagle, had registered on AlphaBay, and on November 5, 2015, he started selling access credentials for hacked accounts.
Hacker sold SunTrust logins on AlphaBay since November 2015
The hacker had two listings up, one titled "High Balance SunTrust Logins 30K-150K Available" and another called "Hacked SunTrust Bank Account Logins $100-$500 Balances."
The first offered access to compromised accounts of SunTrust Bank customers who had over $30,000 in their current account balance. The second was for accounts that had balances that ranged between $100 and $500.
IcyEagle was asking for $66.99 per account for the first listing, and according to the AlphaBay advertisement, he sold 11 items. For the second, he charged $9.99 and sold 32 items.
Glende was caught after an undercover investigation
In March and April 2016, an FBI undercover agent bought some accounts from Glende via the AlphaBay portal using Bitcoin. A further investigation revealed the account access credentials were accurate.
The data he received from Glende included usernames, passwords, physical addresses, email addresses, telephone numbers, and bank account numbers.
Authorities did not reveal how they managed to track down Glende's real identity, but they arrested and indicted the hacker on June 28, 2016. The official charges are for bank fraud, access device fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
"Glende allegedly sold stolen bank account information on a website designed to traffic criminal goods and services, including weapons, stolen credit cards, and illegal narcotics," said US Attorney John Horn. "As cyber criminals increasingly trade financial information for cash, citizens must be vigilant with their account information."