SEATTLE, June 11 (UPI) -- Federal prosecutors said Monday a Dutch citizen was extradited to the United States to make his first court appearance on computer hacking charges.
David Schrooten, 21, was arrested in Romania this spring and faces a 14-count U.S. indictment in Seattle that includes charges of identity theft, bank fraud and conspiracy.
The U.S. attorney's office in Seattle said Schrooten, known among hackers as "Foreteeza," allegedly trafficked in stolen credit card numbers, which resulted in millions of dollars in losses to various banks and other financial institutions.
"This defendant has wrought havoc on victims and financial institutions around the world," U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan said in a written statement. "This indictment alleges that in just one transaction he trafficked in as many as 44,000 stolen credit card numbers resulting in millions of dollars in losses."
Investigators allege Schrooten and co-defendant Christopher Schroebel, 21, Keedysville, Md., operated Web sites that fenced credit card information Schroebel obtained by breaking into the computer systems of two Seattle-area businesses and planting spyware that skimmed credit-card data from point of sale terminals.
Schroebel was arrested last year, pleaded guilty in May and will be sentenced in August.
