Big bucks drew
kid hacker into cyber crime
His face is cherubic and his mannerisms childish. But, when he
talks to police officials, they find it hard to catch up with this
whiz-kid. Ajay (16) is a perfect example of what parents should
watch out for when they encourage their children to use computers.
Being a teenager from a modest background, he wanted to achieve
all the good things in life - right from the latest gadgets to a
lavish lifestyle.
"His knowledge of the codes and payment gateways is as good as
that of a professional hacker," said a senior crime branch
official who has been interrogating this teenager picked up from
Mulund in Mumbai, involved in an online payment scam on eBay.
Three other persons who were arrested in Ahmedabad for their
involvement in the scam are in police custody.
Ajay claims to have his trusted friends in Chennai, Hyderabad,
Bangalore and Pune who help him get illegal access to protected
sites. Though his father's monthly income is only Rs 20,000 per
month as a manager in a textile unit, Ajay used to buy only
branded clothes and go to the best hairstylist.
When the police told Ajay's father about his crimes, his first
reaction was "he is too young to do something like that". But,
when the officials showed him the records, he broke down.
Officials have found that Ajay was always an average to
above-average student, studying in Class X at present. But, give
him a computer and he can beat anyone.
Ajay was happy with the progress he was making in life and told
the police he did not want to pursue college education as "it was
useless for earning money".
His life changed when he came in contact online with bigger
hackers five months ago. He started visiting the forums meant for
international hackers. One of the international sites with the
tagline ‘We move the world to free' attracted him. It was a
gateway to a heaven where the CVV (customer verification value)
numbers and personal details were available for a very cheap
price.
The same website was being used by his Ahmedabad-based links for
dealing on PayPal — a payment gateway — to purchase goods using
someone else's credit card number and bank account. Ajay used it
wisely and never raised an alarm. He blames his 'amateur'
associates of Ahmedabad for landing the whole gang in the police
net.
(Name of the accused has been changed)
Source: AHMEDABAD: by Parth Shastri,- The Times of India -Breaking
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Cyber Crime Feared
More Than Burglary
Of the 1,000 PC users surveyed in March 2008 through market research
company Ipsos, 57% felt that they will most likely be the victims of
cyber
crime with only 21% believing they will be victims of burglary.
