Cameroonian Hacker extradited from France: stole/phished $2m worth airline tickets.
Cameroonian Hacker extradited from France: stole 1.182 billion F CFA which is equivalent to $2 million worth airline tickets. ATLANTA – Eric Donys Simeu, 32, the Cameroonian Hacker, aka Martell Collins, a citizen of Cameroon, was at large for three years before finally being caught by French police. The Cameroonian Hacker has been arraigned on federal charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, computer fraud and access device fraud. Simeu was indicted by a federal grand jury in Atlanta on September 23, 2014. kamerpower.com
US officials said Simeu’s phishing campaign was successful, as he did gain access to GDS servers thanks to stealing the login credentials for three companies from Georgia, Atlanta and Southlake, Texas. However “Cybercrime is borderless, but increasingly, so too are our law enforcement capabilities,” said U.S. Attorney John Horn. “With the cooperation of France and our international law enforcement partners, we were able to bring to justice a wanted fugitive who was allegedly committing cyber fraud that affected U.S. companies from the streets of West Africa.”
“Those who target US companies and citizens through cyber attacks and spear phishing emails can no longer be confident they will remain anonymous and be protected by geographic boundaries. The arrest and extradition of Eric Simeu (Cameroonian Hacker) is the result of a multi-national effort led by the FBI, which demonstrates the benefits of global cooperation among international law enforcement and the private sector. This arrest and extradition serves a strong deterrent to those targeting the computer networks of US companies and US citizens. It should also serve as a reminder to the public to be vigilant and aware they are frequently targeted through fraudulent emails seeking to steal their personal information,” said J. Britt Johnson, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Atlanta Field Office. kamerpower.com
According to U.S. Attorney Horn, the charges, and other information presented in court: Eric Simeu (Cameroonian Hacker) is allegedly responsible for a series of “phishing campaigns” which targeted customers of Global Distribution System (“GDS”) companies from approximately July 2011 to September 2014.
US authorities said after gaining access to GDS servers, Simeu (Cameroonian Hacker) went out to issue numerous fraudulent airline tickets, which he either sold to customers primarily in West Africa “for fractions of the actual cost” or used them personally to travel across the globe. According to the FBI, airline firms sustained a loss of over $2 million equivalent to 1.182 Billion F CFA as a result of the scam.
Simeu (Cameroonian Hacker) was arrested by the French police in September 2014 when attempting to use one of his own fraudulent air tickets to travel from Casablanca, Morocco, to Paris. At the time of his arrest, Simeu was using the alias Martell Collins and was found to have a fake British passport under his fake identity. The US finally extradited him. kamerpower.com