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Hacker Resells VOIP For Profit

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the lots-and-lots-of-profit dept.

uncleO writes "The New York Times tells the story of today's arrest of Edwin Andres Pena, 23, who 'hacked into computers run by an unsuspecting investment company in Rye Brook, N.Y., commandeered its unprotected servers, and re-routed his phone traffic through them,' then 'used more than $1 million he received from his customers to go on a spending spree, buying real estate in south Florida, a 40-foot Sea Ray Mercruiser motor boat, and luxury cars including a BMW and a Cadillac Escalade.'"

7 of 155 comments (clear)

  1. The real crime... by gnomeza · · Score: 5, Funny

    in this story is that he went and bought a Cadillac...

  2. Bad Taste by ewhac · · Score: 5, Funny
    ...used more than $1 million he received from his customers to go on a spending spree, buying real estate in south Florida, a 40-foot Sea Ray Mercruiser motor boat, and luxury cars including a BMW and a Cadillac Escalade. [emphasis mine]

    Why is it that most thieves have no taste? The BMW is okay, but most of that is tacky sh*t you could win on The Price is Right.

    Schwab
    Elitist Scum

    --
    Editor, A1-AAA AmeriCaptions
  3. Bet he was NOT... by Linker3000 · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...allowed one phone call when arrested!!

    --
    AT&ROFLMAO
  4. Toll fraud by porkThreeWays · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I used to work in the VoIP business writing software a few years ago. There's A LOT of illegal activity that goes on. Much more than you think. Espically in wholesale. These guys do this stuff all the time. I guess the real story is that it happened in the US. Mostly it happens outside of the US. But trust me, it happens all the time. The shitty thing is, you have to pay for minutes you were ripped off. It's one of the few businesses that you can have stolen more than you have. If I have a warehouse ripped off, I am only out the equipment in that warehouse. With tollfraud, I can be out 300,000 dollars more than my whole business is worth.

    It's bound to happen. A lot of these guys just buy a cheap-o softswitch and throw it in a noc. Some of them do their billing in MS Access.

    --
    If an officer ever threatens to taze you, say you have a pacemaker.
  5. To the rest of us pulling the same scheme. by ptelligence · · Score: 5, Funny

    Disconnect! Disconnect! The Gig is up!

  6. Gen Y by rijrunner · · Score: 5, Funny


    Well.. I, for one, never really bought into the myth that kids today are unmotivated. It is good to see someone with ambition and drive. I am, like many others, sadly noting the use he put his money to.

    Dude, its not Swiss bank accounts or the Cayman Islands. Its Vegas Baby.. Alcohol, women, drugs, gambling... In my day, we did not give a damn about the future as we knew we could always steal more. They can take your possessions away, but never your memories. In my day, we created companies that sold nothing and listed money invested by venture capitalists as "sales" and gave ourselves huge bonuses.. This plan would have really worked, if you have followed the 1990's model and not actually provided any services...

    On the serious side tho.. Doesn't this raise some fundamental questions about VOIP security? If I am reading this correctly, they did not hack the VOIP software itself, but a computer on which they resided, then ran the software normally. That opens a lot of systems worldwide to this sort of scheme.

  7. Odd with whom the sympathies rest by k1980pc · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Majority of the comments here tells what-he-should-have-done-to-not=get-caught. He is a cheat, he got caught. Serves him right. And with the amount he would have siphoned off, there will be enogh lawyers with snake oil to let him out. I do not think he need any sympathies and advice from /. crowd