New York Man Sentenced to 4 Years in Transnational Cybercrime Scheme

A 37-year-old man from New York has been sentenced to four years
in prison for buying stolen credit card information and working in
cahoots with a cybercrime cartel known as the Infraud
Organization.

John Telusma, who went by the alias “Peterelliot,” pleaded
guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy on October 13, 2021.
He joined the gang in August 2011 and remained a member for
five-and-a-half years.

“Telusma was among the most prolific and active members of the
Infraud Organization, purchasing and fraudulently using compromised
credit card numbers for his own personal gain,” the U.S. Justice
Department (DoJ) said^[1].

Infraud, a transnational cybercrime behemoth, operated for more
than seven years, advertising its activities under the slogan “In
Fraud We Trust,” before its online infrastructure was dismantled by
U.S. law enforcement authorities in February 2018.

The rogue enterprise dabbled in the large-scale acquisition and
sale of compromised credit card data, personally identifiable
information, and other digital contraband, enabling the trade of
more than four million stolen credit and debit card numbers.

“The organization directed traffic and potential purchasers to
the automated vending sites of its members, which served as online
conduits to traffic in stolen means of identification, stolen
financial and banking information, malware, and other illicit
goods,” the DoJ said^[2]
at the time.

“It also provided an escrow service to facilitate illicit
digital currency transactions among its members and employed
screening protocols that purported to ensure only high quality
vendors of stolen cards, personally identifiable information, and
other contraband were permitted to advertise to members,” it
added.

The group is estimated to have caused no less than $568 million
in losses to consumers, businesses, and financial institutions
alike.

Telusma is the 14th member of the Infraud Organization to be
sentenced in connection with the ​​Infraud scheme. Other co-conspirators^[3]
include Sergey Medvedev, Marko Leopard^[4], Valerian Chiochiu,
David Jonathan Vargas, Pius Sushil Wilson, Gennaro Fioretti, Jose
Gamboa, Aldo Ymeraj, and Taimoor Zaman.