Man "steals hundreds of thousands" over Limewire

September 8th, 2007, 23:24 Posted By: splodger15

A Seattle man who allegedly used file sharing software to steal personal financial details has been arrested.
Gregory Thomas Kopiloff reportedly used peer-to-peer applications such as Limewire to trawl other p2p peoples' computers for information that he used to open credit card accounts. He then used the cards to buy at least $73,000 worth of goods online, which he then sold on Ebay for around half price.

Law enforcement officers have found at least 83 victims, though they believe that many more were compromised and that total losses will be hundreds of thousands of dollars. Most were teenage children who said they were unaware that the file sharing software was on their computers.

Kopiloff, who is charged with mail fraud, accessing a protected computer and two counts of aggravated identity theft, has not entered a plea. His lawyer said he was still examining the charges against him.

Assistant US attorney Kathryn Warma explained that while typically p2p users would search for the name of a favourite singer or group, Kopiloff preferred to look for "federal tax return" or student funding forms. He even checked potential victims to ensure they has a good credit rating.

"If you are running file-sharing software, you are giving criminals the keys to your computer," Warma said. "Criminals are getting access to incredibly valuable information."

Lime Wire, which develops the software of almost the same name did not comment, but recently Mark Gorton, its chairman, told a US Congress committee that the company is frustrated by users who ignore its security advice.

"We continue to be frustrated that despite our warnings and precautions, a small fraction of users override the safe default setting that comes with the program and end up inadvertently publishing information that they would prefer to keep private," he said.

The same committee was given a demonstration by a security consultant who managed to find information about troop movements in Iraq.

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