COURT DOC: Dutch Citizen Arrested And Extradited From Romania For Computer Hacking Conspiracy That Victimized Thousands Of Credit Card Customers

A Dutch citizen who is prominent in the international computer hacking community will make his first court appearance in Seattle this afternoon on a 14 count indictment charging him with conspiracy, access device fraud, bank fraud, intentional damage to a computer, and aggravated identity theft, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. DAVID BENJAMIN SCHROOTEN, 21, known in the online hacking community as ‘Fortezza,’ was arrested on the indictment in Romania in March, and arrived in the Western District of Washington June 9, 2012.

SCHROOTEN and co-conspirator CHRISTOPHER A. SCHROEBEL, 21, of Keedysville, Maryland marketed stolen credit card numbers via internet sites. SCHROEBEL hacked into the computers of two Seattle area businesses and stole credit card information. According to the indictments, SCHROEBEL hacked into the point of sale computer in a restaurant in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle, and a restaurant supply store in Shoreline, Washington. SCHROEBEL inserted malicious code onto the victims computers that copied the personal information of the credit card transactions at the point of sale terminals. The malicious code transmitted the information to a Kansas server controlled by SCHROEBEL. Across the country, SCHROEBEL stole at least 4800 credit card numbers and security information. SCHROEBEL conspired and worked with SCHROOTEN to build ‘carding websites,’ in order to make the stolen credit card numbers available to criminals for fraud. The indictments describe the victimization of four Western Washington residents who had their information stolen and used to commit bank fraud. (Source: U.S. Department of Justice)