Moore and Horne met on a chat forum and started selling stolen iTunes vouchers and other online gaming codes on eBay. The criminal activity soon escalated. By the time SOCA raided Moore’s parents’ home last year he had a bank of computers connected to his website, Freeshshop; and was at that time a successful criminal. He had £80,700 cash in a safe in his bedroom, a BMW and £170,000 in the bank. He had also given his father £40,000 to help buy a farmhouse – but his parents just believed he was a successful web designer.
He didn’t design websites, he brokered stolen credit card details through Freshshop. SOCA’s analysis of his computers revealed 340,000 payment card details, with attributable card losses likely to be around £30m. This is probably a conservative figure, with the actual loss likely to be considerably more. “In addition to the fraud attributed to specific cards,” said SOCA, “the information brokered by Moore would also have been sufficient to enable fake bank accounts to be set up. These could in turn be used to commit further fraud, such as cheque or identity fraud.”
Freshshop users would buy the card details, and the proceeds were then laundered through a network of bank accounts, online financial institutions and overseas money exchangers. Some of the money ended in Horne’s personal bank account, from where he posted bundles of cash to Moore. Other cash was collected by friends from Western Union outlets around Bristol.
At trial at Bristol Crown Court, Moore pleaded guilty to 12 charges relating to fraud, money laundering and computer misuse. He was jailed for three years. Horne pleaded guilty on three counts of computer fraud. He was jailed for 21 months.
But for SOCA, the case isn’t yet closed. “SOCA is continuing to investigate those persons who used the Freshshop website,” it warned.