Moore, who had no formal qualifications, used his advanced computer knowledge to hack into computer systems and obtain databases of payment card information which he then made available through his website Freshshop, which was designed to look and operate like any other online retail site. In addition to selling information he had obtained himself, he also allowed other like minded criminals to sell their compromised data on the website, for which he received a commission.
Horne used his personal bank account to receive criminal funds received through the website and posted bundles of cash to Moore.
When Serious Organised Crime Agency officers raided his parents’ home in 2011, Moore was found in control of a bank of computers logged on to the Freshshop website. A search of his bedroom revealed a safe which contained over £80,700 in cash….
Analysis of Moore’s computers revealed that he held the payment card details of more than 340,000 individuals, and fraud losses attributed to card details available on his website have been reported as being in excess of £26.9m by the card issuers. This is, in reality, a conservative figure and the actual loss is likely to be considerably more because In addition to the fraud attributed to specific cards, the information brokered by Moore would also have been sufficient to enable fake bank accounts to be set up. These could in turn be used to commit further fraud, such as cheque or identity fraud.
The sale of this compromised data earned Moore substantial profits, including £170,000 credited to his bank account, and the £80,700 found in his safe.
In a further effort to conceal the large sums of cash flowing in to his bank account, Moore recruited two friends to collect money on his behalf from Western Union outlets in the Bristol area. These two individuals, Lewis Danter, aged 20, from Coalpit Heath, and John Allen, aged 22, from Bedminster Down, pleaded guilty to money laundering offences and received community service sentences.
SOCA press release link: click here