Successful Arrest and Detention of Hacker on the Run

It is believed that Goodin sent spam e-mails that seemed to have originated in the billing section of America Online (AOL). Thousands of such "phishing" e-mails were sent to customers with the objective of getting them to reveal their financial data. A standard message would ask customers to edit this information for new payments. The disclosed information was subsequently used by the hacker to make illegal purchases.

The man was first arrested in January when allegations were made that he was indulging in an identity theft scheme. He was freed on bail but did not turn up for a hearing to review the bail. The FBI issued an arrest warrant for Goodin in July in Los Angeles and put up his photo on its website. In a more serious indictment, a grand jury at the federal level incorporated new charges against him concerning misdemeanors while he was on the run. These include witness harassment. In March, he is said to have threatened a witness for the latter's alleged betrayal, promising to meet him in hell and claiming that revenge would come through karma.

The authorities in Los Angeles were able to home in on the place where Goodin was hiding and arrested him. He was allowed to appear before a federal magistrate in the city's District Court and was then detained.

FBI documents say that a large expenditure was incurred on the part of AOL and EarthLink in probing the matter and redressing the damage caused by the hacker's e-mails. According to an FBI spokesperson, the damages are still being assessed.

The case really began in July 2005 with the advice of the Ontario Police Department (OPD) that Goodin had made use of credit card information obtained through fraudulent e-mails. The OPD approached the FBI, which began an inquiry into the matter in partnership with the Electronic Crimes Task Force.

Related article: Successful Control of Vulnerability Detected in CSAMC

» SPAMfighter News - 11/10/2006