A teen calling himself a "cracker" claims he's posted hundreds of credit card numbers online - including that of Microsoft emperor Bill Gates. He even challenged anyone who didn't believe he had actual credit numbers to visit his site and try them out at porn sites.
The teenager, known only as Curador (custodian), claims he got into the database of an e-commerce site and posted Gates's and hundreds of other credit card numbers - and APBNews reports the 18-year-old says he will do it again within two days. He reportedly made the threat in an e-mail he sent Feb. 2.
Microsoft spokesman Adam Sohn says a story about Gates's number being posted was "dubious and fraught with errors," calling it "irresponsible and criminal."
The numbers were posted on a personal home page at Xoom.com, part of an NBC subsidiary company, which removed the page after noon Feb. 2. It took a visitor to the Web page to blow the whistle and stop the posting, APBNews says.
NBCi Director of Investor Relations Roger Maes tells APBNews it wasn't clear how long Curador's page with the credit numbers had been online or how many might have seen it, but authorities have been called.
"We have a dedicated group internally who all they do is monitor terms of service violations, and we also encourage our visitors as well as other home page members to report any terms-of-service violations," Maes tells APBNews. "We were actually alerted by a visitor. I went there, actually saw it, and it was removed in a couple of minutes."
The teen cracker claims to have over 5,000 credit card numbers he retrieved while hacking into a Thai online mall. He denies any financial motive behind his cracking, APBNews says.
"My main motive was boredom pure and simple," he says in his e-mail, "so I did this little crack, E-Commerce sites beware because I am Posting from more sites soon."
He even issued a challenge to doubters: "I did not demand money from the e-commerce site, who are blissfully unaware that I have put these numbers on-line," Curador's e-mail. "In the Next 48, Hours, I Will Post a Link to their site, Plus (maybe) the Names & Address of the People who's Numbers I Post, But only if I can be bothered. You can check if these are real the same way I did go visit any porno site, and enter the card numbers you will be approved and that is the only proof I can offer."
However, one computer security expert, who asked for anonymity, tells APBNews this incident was tantamount to "Dumpster diving" - where some teens comb trash bins in the back of buildings to get carbon copies of credit cards.
Curador claims to be from Europe, but investigators are reportedly checking into whether he might not be part of a group of hackers from Colorado Springs, based on his e-mail host.
