Texas Man Jailed For Buying Stolen Login Credentials For 38,000 PayPal Accounts
A Texas man has been sentenced to prison after buying 38,000 stolen logins for PayPal accounts, and then trying to drain the funds from them.
On Wednesday, the US Justice Department announced(Opens in a new window) 37-year-old Marcos Ponce of Austin, Texas is going to serve five years in jail for trying to hijack access to the PayPal accounts. He’s also been ordered to pay $1.4 million back to PayPal as restitution.
The FBI discovered Ponce’s scheme while investigating an unnamed illegal online marketplace that trafficked in stolen login credentials from various websites. Back in 2016, a foreign law enforcement agency managed to copy all the files inside one of the servers hosting the illegal marketplace.
The FBI looked at the server files and realized one of the most prolific buyers on the market was Ponce, who bought 38,153 stolen PayPal login credentials, which “included username, password, name, email, address, balance, linked credit card numbers, linked bank account numbers and other information,” according to court documents.
The FBI connected Ponce to the crime by looking at the IP address used to make the purchases over the illegal marketplace. The same IP address also repeatedly accessed a PayPal account registered to Ponce. In addition, he paid for the stolen PayPal credentials by using a cryptocurrency account registered to his name on Coinbase.
Back in Nov. 2018, the FBI conducted a search of Ponce’s residence in Austin and found a thumb drive, which contained some of the stolen PayPal login credentials. Investigators also uncovered Skype chat logs, showing Ponce was conspiring with others to drain funds from the PayPal accounts and then launder the money.
The Justice Department said his scheme started
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