A Romanian has pleaded guilty to using
phishing attacks to steal more than £400,000 from over 7,000
customers of PayPal, Citibank and other financial institutions.
In May, authorities in the US and Romania arrested and charged
38 people suspected of running an international phishing gang.
The 26-year Sergiu Popa led victims to bogus websites and
tricked them into revealing their PIN codes and other personal
information.
He was also offering phishing kits for sale with instructions on
how to counterfeit credit cards.
Popa, who was extradited to the US from Spain in June, now faces
up to 10 years in jail or a fine of over £290,000.
Graham Cluley, technology consultant at IT security supplier,
Sophos, said: "There are plenty of other criminals taking advantage
of innocent internet users and stealing identities from the
unwary."
He said all computer users should ensure they are fully
defending
against attacks such as phishing and that they exercise caution
when responding to emails that ask for financial information.