February 18, 2011

Romanian Man Pleads Guilt

Online scams are commonplace these days. But while convincing someone's grandparents they've won the Bavarian lottery is one thing, a multi- faceted and organized plot to dupe people out of millions is something else entirely.

Adrian Ghighina, 33, of Bucharest, has pleaded guilty to conspiracy, bank fraud and money laundering charges in U.S. District Court for the District of Illinois, the Department of Justice said Thursday. The scam he was involved in ripped off $2.7 million from eBay,  Autotrader and Craigslist users. According to reports Ghighina's team hijacked legitimate accounts and sent buyers "funds not received" messages while they pocketed the replacement money.

Prosecutors say Ghighina role within the scam was to act as the person on the opposite end of the deal taking in money via false accounts and keeping 20 percent to 40 percent of the cash wired to him. The scam took advantage of 1,100 people and Ghighinas earning were in the tens of thousands. He is one of 11 people charged in the scam, which dates back to November 2004.

While users have been warned of phishing accounts before, the fact that these criminal used real accounts that had been compromised allowed them to slip through most fraud filters.

Ghighina is due to be sentenced on May 9 and faces 20 years in prison. He has already been given a 27-month sentence in Fla.