Student's life as a hacker exposed by eBay tip-off

CHENNAI: Police on Tuesday arrested a college student for purchasing
electronic goods online using credit card details of card holders from
across the world. T Bharathwaj Purohit (20), a resident of MKB Nagar
and a member of a community of hackers, had been buying electronic
goods online using other people's credit cards since April. Police
recovered an electric guitar, a printer, an LCD TV, a digital camera, a
weighing scale, a mobile and a laptop all worth Rs three lakh, and Rs
38,500 in cash from him. Purohit met Charu Sharma of Mumbai and Hathi
Gogaiyan of Ahmedabad online a few months ago. They introduced him to
an online hackers' community on the net and gave him credit card
details to make purchases. "Following Sharma and Gogaiyan's advice,
Purohit tried to book an expensive mobile and i-pod using the data they
provided. To his surprise, he received the items within a week. He also
couriered the valuables to them as gifts. He started buying more goods
online on 'eBay', an online auction website," deputy commissioner of
police B Vijayakumari said. Sharma and Gogaiyan had given Purohit
details of US credit card holders. Following complaints from an eBay
investigation officer, the city police arrested Purohit. He had made
his purchases from his personal computer. The police, with the help of
the cyber crime wing, tracked down his IP address. Preliminary inquires
revealed that this group of hackers got bank accounts and credit card
details of people for a price. "We have received information that the
Mumbai police cornered Sharma and Gogaiyan a few days ago for another
credit card cheating case in Mumbai. We have taken Purohit into custody
to get more details," a senior police officer said. Police booked
Purohit under several sections of the IPC, including 420 (cheating). He
was remanded in judicial custody after being produced before the
magistrate court on Tuesday.