Romanian law enforcement officers arrested Vladuz yesterday with members of eBay’s global fraud investigation team in attendance.
Vladuz has been a thorn in eBay’s side since 2006 when he began a hacking crusade against the company culminating early last year when he gained employee posting rights as a “pink” on the eBay forums. Importantly he never gained access to eBay’s back end systems confirmed by eBay in a Press Release stating “Despite numerous efforts to defraud eBay users via accessing administrative accounts, Vladuz was unsuccessful in his attempts.”
Romania has long held a reputation for cyber crime leading to CBS naming it the “New Citadel Of Cybercrime“. Rivalling Nigeria with it’s 419 scams, Romaina gained an unwanted reputation for auction fruad due in part to low wages. Compromising just one or two accounts a week could result in a higher, albeit criminal, income than could be earned legitimately in Romania. Simple economics has made defrauding US and UK Internet users an attractive proposition.
This arrest will be welcome news for the EU, where there is serious concern over fraud within Romania. eBay’s Chief Information Security Officer, Dave Cullinane said “We are delighted that Vladuz is in custody thanks to the hard work of Romanian law enforcement. Their willingness to work closely with eBay and other global law enforcement agencies was instrumental in making this arrest.”
