BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — A Buffalo man was sentenced to 20 months in prison for using an online marketplace to buy over 700 unauthorized access devices, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Tuesday.
The devices contain stolen data such as email addresses, usernames and passwords from malware-infected computers.
27-year-old Wul Isaac Chol deposited around $105.08 worth of bitcoin into a Genesis Market account, which is an online marketplace that compiles stolen data into packages and sells it, and used the funds to purchase 21 packages of unauthorized access devices. The purchases occurred between June 2019 and January 2021.
The 21 packages contained approximately 778 unauthorized access devices in total.
Chol was convicted of possession of 15 or more unauthorized access devices with intent to defraud. He also admitted to obtaining, without authorization, $25,164 from the New York State Department of Labor, officials said.