Stealing From Banks One Cent at a Time 313
JRHelgeson writes "In a story strangely reminiscent of Superman 3, a 'hacker' allegedly stole over $50,000 from PayPal, Google Checkout as well as several unnamed online brokerage firms. When opening an online brokering account it is common practice for companies such as E-trade and Schwab to send a tiny payment — ranging from only a few cents to a couple of dollars — to verify that the user has access to the bank account listed. According to the story, the attacker wrote a script that opened thousands of accounts at dozens of these providers. He was arrested not for taking the money, but for using false names in order to get it."
Superman 3? (Score:5, Informative)
Submitter gets it wrong (Score:3, Informative)
Re:How did he do it? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:How did he do it? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Superman 3? (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Submitter gets it wrong (Score:4, Informative)
"According to court documents, Californian Michael Largent used an automated script to open 58,000 such accounts, collecting many thousands of these small payments into a few personal bank accounts.
Largent also performed the same trick with Google's Checkout service, cashing more than $8,000 alone from the service. " [emphasis added]
Am I (and the submitter) missing something?
Re:Relax (Score:2, Informative)
Re:It was over... (Score:2, Informative)
Real guy.
Re:Let's (Score:5, Informative)
Re:How did he do it? (Score:2, Informative)
PayPal and E*trade both leave the money.
I seem to remember others...oh wait, those were authorization charges! ("Don't worry, we'll put it back eventually.") Those appear to be the smarter companies in the bunch.
Re:What were the crimes again? (Score:3, Informative)
The problem here is that the transactions involved banks. The fact that PayPal was the conduit is irrelevant in this case, I think.
Re:Superman 3? (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Superman 3? (Score:2, Informative)
The indirect reference shows a bit of finesse, and understanding that the geek will get it.
Re:Superman 3? (Score:4, Informative)
A:
B: "Huh?"
A: "You know, like in Superman 3."
B: "Oooh, now I get it."
It's funny, damnit. Made funnier than Superman 3 is actually a pretty awful movie. (But it's an awful movie that most everybody's seen.)
Re:how did it get that far? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Superman 3? (Score:5, Informative)
Eventually, coins could be made with milled edges, which largely curbed the practice, and today, of course, most coins are made from metals that are worth very little compared to the value of the coin itself.
Re:How did he do it? (Score:4, Informative)
(Assuming you aren't being sly with the double-negative...)
Then you have some learnin' to do about how ACH transactions work. Authorization for withdrawals is required, but it is certainly not passed along with the transaction itself. The system relies heavily on trust. If someone challenges a transaction, and their bank demands proof of authorization, then yes, you'd better have it. But if the transaction is not challenged or rejected, then it stands.
Re:oh wait.... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:$50,000? (Score:1, Informative)
You should be able to get two decent-quality chicks at the same time for under $500 in most cities in the USA.
Unless you literally meant 2 at the same time, in which case you would probably have to pay the remaining $49,500 for the plastic surgery required to give you a second dick.
Re:Superman 3? (Score:5, Informative)
Coin Melt Value
Penny (current) $0.005
Penny (pre 1982) $0.024
Nickel (current) $0.059
Dime $0.021
Quarter $0.053
Golden dollar coin $0.065
So, the mint is only loosing money on nickels right now, and the pre-1982 pennies are worth melting down.
Re:Superman 3? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Comment from said "hacker" (Score:2, Informative)
Re:What were the crimes again? (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Superman 3? (Score:4, Informative)
Today, a penny costs $0.026, and a nickel costs $0.077 to make.