UK hacker used Facebook to steal £35k

A United Kingdom-based hacker used social networking juggernaut Facebook to steal some £35,000 (P2.432 million) from his neighbors’ online bank accounts, breaking into their accounts by guessing their security questions. Iain Wood, 33, spent up to 18 hours per day online to ferret out the passwords based on personal information his victims posted on social networking sites, UK-based The Telegraph reported. “This is the first time I’ve come across a sophisticated fraud such as this, it was very well planned, complex and clever. He was using other people’s identities and there was a considerable breach of trust in assuming his neighbors’ identities. It is an extremely bad deception on people in the same block of flats as he. People’s blood runs cold when they see money taken from their accounts," said Judge Guy Whitburn of Newcastle Crown Court, who had him put in jail for 15 months. Wood, who runs a carpet fitting business, pleaded guilty to seven counts of false representation and asked for a further six similar offences to be taken into account. He also admitted possessing article for the use in fraud. Authorities said he had targeted people living in his block of flats, using his friends’ personal details to get past security checks and hack into their bank accounts. He took more than £35,000 over two years, which he blew on gambling, but alerted authorities when he became overconfident and directly transferred money from a neighbor’s account to his own in November 2009. “(Wood) said he had figured out how to access online bank accounts. He would go on and say he couldn’t remember the password and would be asked security questions about date of births and mother’s maiden names and he was able to give correct details in some cases," said prosecutor Neil Pallister. Pallister also quoted Wood as saying he would be on the computer 18 hours per day to find out information about people on websites such as Facebook and Friends Reunited. “He would make friends with people on Facebook and have got their usernames he would try it on the bank websites, on the basis people use the same passwords. If that did not work he would fill in the security information which he had got from Facebook and Friends Reunited," Pallister said. Once he got access to the bank accounts he would change the address details and intercept the cards and take out cash. While most of the accounts he targeted were dormant, he was able to exploit the overdraft facility before anyone realized something was amiss. Getting caught An investigation showed Wood lived at Pandon Gate House on City Road in Newcastle’s East End at the time of the hacking, which went on between June 2008 and June 2010. But when he directly transferred the money from a victim’s account to his own, the victim was contacted over the withdrawal of £1,500. The victim realized the fraud and called the police. While police initially thought it was an isolated incident, they were tipped off to Wood’s past incidents when Wood asked them, “Have you been on to me for a while?" A search of his flat yielded bank account PINs, other people’s passport, bills and other paperwork. Investigation showed he had taken these items from the post boxes of his neighbors. Wood eventually admitted hacking into various bank accounts, most of them dormant, and intercepting other people’s post when interviewed by police. — TJD, GMA News