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March 18, 2008
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WEST HAVEN MAN INVOLVED IN EMAIL PHISHING AND SPAMMING SCHEME PLEADS GUILTY
Kevin
J. O’Connor, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut,
today announced that DANIEL MASCIA, 24, of West Haven, pleaded guilty yesterday,
March 17, before United States Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez in Hartford
to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with access devices
and one count of fraud in connection with electronic mail. The charges
relate to a “phishing” and “spamming” scheme that
targeted AOL subscribers.
According to documents filed with
the Court and statements made in court, MASCIA and his co-defendants conspired
to “harvest” email addresses of AOL subscribers from the Internet. The
defendants then spammed thousands of AOL subscribers with counterfeit emails
purporting, for example, to convey an electronic greeting card. If an AOL
subscriber attempted to view the greeting card, the subscriber’s computer
would be infected with a software trojan preventing the subscriber from accessing
AOL without entering information including the subscriber’s name, address,
Social Security account number, credit card number, bank account number, and
personal identification number. The defendants used the information to
produce counterfeit debit cards, which they used at ATM machines, online, and
at retail outlets to obtain money, goods, and services.
In pleading guilty, MASCIA admitted
that, during a two-day period in January 2006, he sent thousands of fraudulent
emails from his home to AOL subscribers.
MASCIA is scheduled to be sentenced
on June 4, 2008, by United States District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford. On
the charge of conspiring to commit fraud in connection with access devices, MASCIA
faces a maximum term of imprisonment of seven and one-half years and a fine of
up to $250,000. On the charge of committing fraud in connection with electronic
mail, a law enacted as part of the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, MASCIA faces a maximum
term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of up to $250,000.
“The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 makes it unlawful to send unsolicited commercial
email messages that are deceptive, including email messages that contain false
subject headings or false sender information,” U.S. Attorney O’Connor
stated. “The federal government will vigorously prosecute those who
send such email messages as part of a scheme to defraud.”
This case has been investigated by
the West Haven Police Department, the United States Postal Inspection Service,
the United States Secret Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The
case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Edward Chang.
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