Boston Man Charged With Ebay Identity Theft Scheme

January 10, 2006

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Massachusetts authorities have made an arrest in a hacking incident that resulted in dozens of eBay customers having their credit card data stolen.

Attorney General Tom Reilly said 20-year-old Sean Galvez of Boston allegedly used his computer skills to hack into eBay's computer system, steal victims' identities and use those identities to make online purchases.

Galvez was indicted on one count of larceny by a single scheme and 10 counts each of violating the unauthorized access statute (computer hacking) and violating the identity fraud statute for illegally gaining access to password protected eBay accounts and stealing stored credit card numbers which he later used to make online purchases. He is scheduled to be arraigned January 18.

The indictments allege that from February to September 2003, Galvez gained access to more than 40 eBay accounts, changed passwords and retrieved saved credit card information. Galvez allegedly used this information to purchase online gift certificates through eBay's Half.com website, a purchasing forum within eBay where eBay members can list items for sale or purchase items for a listed price.

The indictments further allege that Galvez created a series of eBay accounts to redeem the gift certificates for more than 30 items.

A number of eBay customers contacted eBay indicating that their account passwords were no longer working. After eBay conducted a preliminary investigation, they referred the matter to the United States Postal Inspector, which traced the purchases to Galvez's home.

In total, the indictments allege that Galvez purchased more than $32,000 worth of gift certificates, $8,000 of which Galvez allegedly used to purchase merchandise on Half.com.

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