Carder jailed for massive Subway fraud

A Romanian national said to be part of a gang that cast Australia's largest credit card fraud net was sentenced to 21 months prison in the US for similar raids against Subway restaurants in the country.

Bob Jagen

Cezar Butu is one of four Romanians who stole card data from 80,000 customers and made millions of dollars in fraudulent purchases after hacking into more than 200 point of sale (PoS) terminals between 2008 and May 2011, including those operated by 150 Subway restaurants.

As detailed by SC, the gang sought PoS terminals with exposed remote desktop protocol connections which they used to break in via brute force and install keyloggers and backdoors.

A second gang member faces up to seven years after pleading guilty. A third defendant will face trial next month while a fourth remains at large.

The group is known to have attacked businesses spread across Australia and the US, with police telling SC the gang is large, professional and resilient.

Law enforcement agencies including the Australian Federal Police swooped on the hacking ring after it stole half a million banking details and cashed out some $30 million in goods from 30,000 credit cards.

SC first reported the theft in August when it was then thought those responsible could inflict about $25 million in damages from half a million cards.

Sixteen alleged members of the gang were arrested in Romania by local authorities and Australian Federal Police (AFP).

The gang is accused of stealing credit cards from 100 Australian small and medium sized businesses.

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