Indian-origin hacker gets 51 months jail for computer fraud in US
Darpan News Desk IANS, 24 May, 2023 12:52 PM
ew York, May 24 (IANS) A 38-year-old Indian-origin hacker from Virginia was sentenced to more than four years in prison for hacking into computers and stealing customer credit card numbers.
Chirag Patel from Norfolk pleaded guilty to computer fraud and was sentenced by US District Judge G Murray Snow to 51 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
He also was ordered to pay $87,522.25 in restitution, the US Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona said on Monday.
According to a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), between August 2017 and July 2020, Patel hacked into the Phoenix-based computers of an international hospitality company on numerous occasions.
He then fraudulently transferred and redeemed customer reward points from the company's customer loyalty program.
In addition, Patel also stole credit card numbers and other personally identifying information (PII) from customers and loyalty program members, which were stored in the company's computers.
Patel took screenshots of customers' and members' information, which included credit card numbers and other PII, and saved the screenshots to a Google Drive he controlled.
In total, between August 2017 and July 2020, Patel stole and possessed more than 1,200 credit card numbers, the FBI investigation found.
He used some of the stolen credit card numbers to make unauthorized purchases and also tried to sell some of the stolen credit card numbers.
The US Senate has approved the nomination of Indian American Ajit Varadaraj Pai for a second term as the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) Chairman.
WASHINGTON: The Trump administration threw its weight behind India's opposition to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, saying it passed through a disputed territory.
Saudi Arabia on Monday announced a plan to launch a company to increase the capacity of the Grand Mosque in Mecca to accommodate pilgrims who are expected to reach more than 30 million by 2030.
Pope Francis is praying for the victims of the deadly mass shootings in Las Vegas and was "deeply saddened" to learn of the "senseless tragedy" which killed over 50 people and wounded over 400, Vatican Radio reported on Monday.
The death toll from the mass shooting at a Las Vegas country music concert has risen to at least 58, with more than 515 people listed as wounded, police said on Monday.
