Norcross man gets six years for stealing 400,000 credit card numbers
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a Norcross man to six years in prison for stealing hundreds of thousands of credit card numbers.
From August 2008 to November 2009, Guled Abdullahi Mohamed, 26, sold and used stolen credit card numbers in metro Atlanta, U.S. attorney spokes man Patrick Crosby said.
"This type of criminal activity represents a serious threat to the citizens of our community and to our financial system,” U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said in a statement.
When Mohamed was arrested during an undercover sting, authorities confiscated a thumb drive that held more than 400,000 stolen credit card numbers and security codes, and the corresponding card holders' names and addresses, federal officials said.
Mohamed pleaded guilty to criminal trafficking in February, and will serve three years of supervised release after his prison term.
Tucker resident Cleveland Walker, 38, was Mohamed's "middle-man" who also sold approximately 100 stolen credit card account profiles, court officials said. Walker was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.
Both men also were ordered to pay $136,978 in restitution to make up for merchandise bought from several area Home Depot, Lowe's and other retail stores with the card information Walker stole, Crosby said.
