Calif. e-trading scammer gets jail and an Internet ban

A California man was sentenced to 15 months in prison last week after pleading guilty to a major scam involving opening tens of thousands of bogus online brokerage accounts. Michael Largent, 22, of Plumas Lake, Calif. pleaded guilty to two computer fraud charges in May. He will pay $200,000 in restitution to the banks and will be restricted from using computers and the Internet for three years following his release.

Largent took his creative scheme to great heights. He wrote a program that opened more than 58,000 brokerage accounts. His goal: Steal the micro-deposits made by financial institutions when linking a new account to an existing bank account.

The Department of Justice said Largent transferred the funds to his own bank accounts once the deposits were made. Largent tried to make more than $50,000 in the scam, DOJ said.

Largent's scam was widely covered across the Internet last year when he was arrested. It was likened to so-called "salami-slicing" scams depicted in movies such as "Superman III" and "Office Space." Salami slicing refers to stealing large amounts of money in many small, undetectable amounts.

He didn't get rich, but he sure got famous.

For more on this Internet scam:
- see this ComputerWorld.com article

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