Operator Of Global Cybercrime Marketplace Pleads Guilty To Access Device Fraud And Identity Theft

[nitpicker]

https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/operator-global-cybercrime-marketplace-pleads-guilty-access-device-fraud-and-aggravated

Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Eastern District of New York

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, August 25, 2017

Operator Of Global Cybercrime Marketplace Pleads Guilty To Access Device Fraud And Aggravated Identity Theft

Cybercriminal’s “Codeshop” Website Sold Troves of Stolen Credit Card Data

Earlier today, Djevair Ametovski, a Macedonian citizen also known as “xhevo,” “sindrom” and “sindromx,” pleaded guilty to access device fraud and aggravated identity theft, crimes related to his operation of “Codeshop,” a website he created for the sole purpose of selling stolen credit and debit card data, bank account credentials and personal identification information — obtained through illegal hacking and phishing schemes — for financial gain. The plea was entered before United States Magistrate Judge Steven L. Tiscione at the federal courthouse in Brooklyn.
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As detailed in court papers, Ametovski ran a sophisticated online global marketplace for selling the stolen credit and debit card data, bank account credentials and personal identification information of victims around the world. As part of his operation, Ametovski worked with co-conspirators to steal victim account data both by hacking into the computer databases of financial institutions and other businesses, and by perpetrating “phishing” scams wherein the conspirators sent forged emails to unwitting accountholders that fraudulently induced the accountholders to surrender private information.[1] Ametovski and his co-conspirators then packaged this stolen victim account data for sale and posted the data on the Codeshop website, a fully indexed and searchable website that allowed users to search through databases of stolen data by bank identification number, financial institution, country, state and card brand to find the precise data that they wished to buy. Users of the Codeshop website who bought stolen data from the website could use it to make online purchases and to encode plastic cards with the data and use the cards to withdraw cash at ATMs. Ametovski used a network of online money exchangers and anonymous digital currencies (like Bitcoin) to reap revenues from the Codeshop website and to conceal all participants’ identities, including his own. Over the course of the scheme, Ametovski obtained and sold stolen credit and debit card data for more than 1.3 million cards. Ametovski was arrested in Ljubljana, Slovenia, in January 2014, and was extradited to the United States in May 2016.

When he is sentenced by United States District Judge Eric N. Vitaliano, Ametovski faces up to 15 years in prison for access device fraud, and an additional mandatory sentence of two years’ imprisonment for aggravated identity theft. He is also subject to restitution, criminal forfeiture, and fines.
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