Indian Hacker Pleads Innocence to Hacking in US

A man from Chennai (India) named Jaisankar Marimuthu aged 34 years is found innocent to charges which accuse him of breaking into Internet brokerage accounts and of tampering with stock prices, as reported by PCWorld on July 8, 2009.

According to reports, on June 20, 2009, Marimuthu was handed over to the US authorities from Hong Kong that charged him for involvement in so-called global "hack, pump-and-dump" scam.

During 2006, when the scam was launched, hackers such as Marimuthu used spam mails to raise share prices by spreading the false news that talked high of a target company. Soon the stock prices actually rose in the market and the miscreants sold off personal holdings i.e. the shares they accumulated from the company.

In fact, problems owing to hackers such as Marimuthu increased in such huge proportions that the United States SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) had to ask several companies to terminate their stock trading since their names were frequently referenced in e-mail campaigns of pump-and-dump stock spamming.

Two other alleged culprits assisting Marimuthu namely Chockalingam Ramanathan and Thirugnanam Ramanathan are also facing legal charges from the US Court in connection with the same scam. While Thirugnanam has admitted committing fraud in the pump-and-dump stock spam that has sent him to US prison for two years, Chockalingam continues at large.

While the case is underway, the Court continues to seek answers to comprehend particular issues regarding the spamming incident which so far are unanswered. For instance, what method the trio employed in getting entry to the online brokerage accounts.

However, Marimuthu might have gained the access at cyber cafes that Europeans and Americans touring Bangkok visited and who fell for bait that used the allegedly valuable stocks, prompting them to purchase the bogus stocks online, according to court filings.

Meanwhile, in related reports, Alan Ralsky another infamous spammer who was involved in a same kind of stock spamming scheme during 2004-2005 admitted that he had committed money laundering and federal fraud in June 2009.

Related article: Indian Financial Industry Facing Rising Online Fraud

» SPAMfighter News - 7/23/2009