Hacker steals $50,000 from PayPal and Google Check out

TheInternetHustler

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http://gizmodo.com/393747/hacker-pu...als-50000-worth-of-pennies-from-google-paypal
Hahaha this guy made a script to make paypal and google check out accounts, he made 58,000 of them and got the small verification money transfer thing from each one!
"In a move reminiscent of schemes seen in Office Space and Superman III, a hacker has exploited a loophole to weasel himself over $50,000 from services such as Google Checkout and Paypal by taking pennies at a time. Unfortunately, he was caught, and is in all likelihood heading to pound-me-in-the-ass prison.

The loophole involved the tiny payments that online payment services and brokerages send to new user accounts to verify that they're real. While getting four cents from PayPal might not seem like a big deal to you, Michael Largent decided to create a script to automatically open 58,000 of these accounts. Unfortunately for him, the companies caught on to his scheme and he's currently out on bail on charges of wire, bank and mail fraud.

The funny thing is, he's not in trouble for taking the money. It was being given out freely, after all. He's in trouble for using fake names and social security numbers to open the accounts.

If only Milton would go burn down the Googleplex in retaliation for Sergey Brin taking his stapler, destroying the evidence of your crime, you could escape these charges!"
 
I was just thinking while I was reading that, "How could he get charged with wire fraud if it's money they send you when you sign up" .. but it's the "identity theft".

Good idea though. I always thought they stopped you when you put in the same bank information into another account. PayPal links that stuff up fast.
 
Why is this so funny? LOL

You gotta give it to him though, thats actually a pretty creative idea. Gotta love ingenuity.
 
In related news, this guy's next move is to market the "Jump to Conclusions Mat" online....LOL.

If it has an affiliate program, I'll promote it.
 
This kid is going to get his ass owned in jail....Unless he can plea bargain out of it, lol. All of the great hacking jobs are never reported because they aren't caught. Good idea but he didn't cover his ass.
 
Yeah, he did not not use his head.

He will walk as a first timer and maybe be told by the judge that he has to stay away from computers for the length of his probation and that is about it.

Ya gotta admire the guy though; pretty slick.
 
Hmm.. now thats what I call a BLACKHAT tactic.
Maybe he should write an ebook and sell it on Digital Point about his method :)
 
this is really a good one :D
 
He opened up 58,000 accounts and made over $50,000 ?? That math doesn't add up.
 
What i don't understand is did he open 58,000 bank accounts? or how did that work? Don't you need a new bank account with each paypal account?
 
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the real question is-Does he get to keep the money? How it was obtained wasnt the illegal part.
 
Anyone have any info on how he went about creating 58,000 different bank accounts for the money to be deposited into? Aren't you only allowed one bank account per yahoo account or am I thinking your only allowed one cc per account.
 
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