An Endeavour Hills man has been sentenced over buying stolen information from an online criminal marketplace.
Wangzhen Jiao, 32, pleaded guilty at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court to possessing data with the intent to committing a computer offence.
He had allegedly used an invite-only website Genesis Market which sold log-in credentials, browsing history, autofill form data and other sensitive data.
The man allegedly purchased ‘bots’ containing about 650 compromised credentials.
Such “digital fingerprints” can be used to mimic a victim’s access credentials to access their online accounts.
Jiao’s home was raided by police on 5 April. He was arrested and his laptop and phone seized.
On 19 January, he was sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order.
Genesis Market was shut down after an international investigation led by the FBI and assisted by Australian Federal Police and state police units including in Victoria.
The website had access to more than 1.5 million compromised computers, according to the AFP.
AFP Cyber Command acting assistant commissioner Chris Goldsmid said cybercriminals were constantly looking for ways to exploit the community for financial gain.
“The public should take steps to protect themselves against this sort of crime including regularly changing passwords, ensuring they are unique to different accounts and enabling two-factor authentication.”
Dutch Police developed a portal to check if your personal details were compromised on Genesis Market.
Visit www.politie.nl/checkyourhack.
If you believe you’ve been a victim of cybercrime, report it to police at www.cyber.gov.au.
