Fraudster sentenced in theft of processor's data

Vladislav Anatolievich Horohorin, a fraudster associated with a group of cyber criminals that hacked into an Atlanta-based card processor was sentenced to 88 months in prison and ordered to pay $125,000 in restitution by a U.S. Federal Judge in Washington, D.C., April 5, 2013.

According to the FBI, hackers breached the Atlanta processor and sold the data they stole to brokers like Horohorin, who then applied the information to counterfeit payroll debit cards used to withdraw $9 million from ATMs around the world.

The FBI Northern District of Georgia reported that Horohorin, also known on Internet websites as "BadB," was arrested in 2010 in Nice, France, and extradited to the United States on a federal warrant in June 2012. In October 2012, Horohorin, a citizen of Russia, Israel and Ukraine, pleaded guilty to two counts of access device fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Admissions of guilt

The FBI said Horohorin admitted to using criminal online forums, known as "dumps," to sell the processor's stolen credit and debit card information to online purchasers. To buy the information, customers created accounts at a website created by Horohorin to vend the stolen credit and debit card data. The FBI said Horohorin had more than 2.5 million stolen credit and debit card numbers in his possession when he was arrested.

Before his sentencing, Horohorin also admitted he was involved in a scheme to counterfeit payroll debit cards that were used at ATMs to steal from the victim processor's customer accounts. The FBI said hackers used the stolen information to raise account balances and withdrawal limits. The thieves then sold the account information and PIN numbers to criminals like Horohorin and others he enlisted, who withdrew cash from ATMs using the fraudulent cards.

A spokesman for the United States Attorney's Office, Northern District of Georgia, said the name of the processor that was hacked is RBS WorldPay.

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