Qendrim Dobruna aka “cL0sEd”or “cL0z,” disseminated the stolen card data worldwide to his co-conspirators after eliminating the withdrawal limits from the compromised accounts and manipulated the security protocols that would have alerted the victim about his endeavour. The stolen card data was then distributed to the individuals who encoded the data to magnetic stripe cards to use at various ATMs for their personal benefit.
Before the attack was noticed, more than 15,000 ATM transactions were conducted in approximately 18 countries using the compromised disaster relief prepaid cards, resulting in $14 million in financial loss worldwide. Authorities said that, the amount of the loss which would have been much more if the attack had not been noticed.
Dobruna will be sentenced on Oct. 24 and could have faced 30 years in prison, as well as a maximum fine of $1 million, according to the Friday Department of Justice press release. But as part of a plea deal entered into with the authorities, Dobruna will be sentenced to nine years in prison. Prior to agreeing for plea bargain, Dobruna filed a not guilty plea but he subsequently withdrew it on Friday after admitted to hacking into the systems of J.P. Morgan Chase, which processed transactions by the American Red Cross.
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