Norfolk Constabulary (local police) in the U.K. has recently announced that a 19-year-old man was sent to twenty months in prison and was also required to pay back more than £400,000 by Norwich Crown Court for hacking services that he had provided in exchange for crypto payments.
According to Norfolk Police, the accused stole personal data of several users and offered hacking services in exchange for thousands of pounds worth of Bitcoin(BTC)trade. Cryptocurrency crimes and hacking attacks have been increasing over the last few years and this case in Norfolk is just another example of that. However, this time the criminal got caught and pleaded guilty at an early hearing, and then sentenced to prison. Let’s deeper into the matter.
The 19-year old, Elliot Gunton based in Mounteney Close in Norwich, was sentenced to prison by Norwich Crown Court after he confessed to the hacking activities of which he was accused. According to the court, the Norfolk Police found Elliot’s laptop equipped with a software that enabled him to commit cybercrimes such as providing hacking services and stealing personal data. In 2016, he was also charged for breaching a Sexual Harm Prevention Order imposed by the court and since then the police was making sure he is complying with it.
After investing further, the police found several pieces of evidence regarding the crypto crime. From Gunton’s computer, the police found that he had stolen compromised personal information of individuals and sold it to others for a criminal purpose in exchange for a cryptocurrency payment. He was passing personal information such phone number to third parties which allowed them to intercept the calls and texts of individuals to get data such as one-time password, credentials and other sensitive information.
Officers also found incriminating proofs that Elliot was marketing and promoting his criminal services of selling compromised data and hacking services in exchange for $3,000 in Bitcoin. He always preferred to get paid by Bitcoin for the sake of being not caught by police. Elliot was attempting to employ serious tactics to hide his criminal activities but left several clues behind that include online conversations with other criminals where he offered his criminal services to clients.
Boasting on the Social Media before the Seizure of his Bitcoin Holdings
In a tweet under one of his masked online identities, ‘@Gambler,’ Gunton posted a message stating that “having lots of money is cool…. but having lots of money without people knowing is cooler.”
Detective Sergeant Mark Stratford said:
“Gunton was exploiting the personal data of innocent businesses and people in order to make a considerable profit but he did not succeed in hiding all of his ill-gotten gains which enabled us to seize hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of Bitcoin.”
With his imprisonment, detective Sergeant Stratford ensured that no such criminal activities will be committed by Gunton in the future and that the police will remain active eyeing on such illegal activities.
