14 DAY TRIAL // David Benjamin Schrooten, the Dutch national accused of being involved in a major hacking scheme, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison.
Schrooten, aged 22, was arrested in Romania back in March 2012 and extradited shortly after to the United States. In November, he pleaded guilty to access device fraud, conspiracy to commit access device fraud and bank fraud, intentional damage to a protected computer, bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft.
According to the US Department of Justice, the hacker is responsible for trafficking over 100,000 credit card numbers, causing damages of over $63 million (47 million EUR).
“By trafficking over 100,000 credit card numbers stolen by hackers, this defendant helped create the profitable black market for stolen data,” US Attorney Jenny Durkan explained.
“We will target every link of the cyber crook business model. The hacker who stole the numbers was sentenced to seven years in prison, the broker who sold them online was sentenced today to 12 years in prison, and next before the court will be the leader of a criminal gang that was using these credit card numbers for fraud.”
Authorities say that Schrooten and his 21-year-old co-conspirator Christopher A. Schroebel obtained payment card details after hacking into the computers of two Seattle businesses.
Schroebel is said to be responsible for hacking into computers and planting malware on them in an effort to harvest sensitive information. He conspired and worked with the Dutch citizen to set up carding websites on which they could monetize the loot.
This case is not over yet. In July 2012, we learned that 33-year-old Charles Tony Williamson, better known as the famous rap artist Guerilla Black, was arrested for his alleged involvement in the scheme.
It’s believed that Williamson purchased over 27,000 credit card numbers from the hackers. The rapper is scheduled for trial this spring.