WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th March, 2023) Nicholas Ceraolo and Sagar Steven Singh have been charged with conspiracy to commit computer intrusions and wire fraud in a scheme seeking to extort victims by threatening to release their personal information online, the US Department of Justice said on Tuesday.
"In pursuit of victims' personal information, Singh and Ceraolo unlawfully used a police officer's stolen password to access a restricted database maintained by a Federal law enforcement agency that contains (among other data) detailed, nonpublic records of narcotics and Currency seizures, as well as law enforcement intelligence reports," the Justice Department said in a press release.
Ceraolo also accessed without authorization the email account of a foreign law enforcement officer and used it to defraud social media companies by making purported emergency requests for information about the companies' users, the release said.
Singh was arrested on Tuesday morning in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and was scheduled to make his initial appearance this afternoon in federal court in Providence, Rhode Island, while Ceraolo remains at large, the release said.
Singh and Ceraolo belonged to a group called "Vile," whose members have used different methods to collect personal information and post or threaten to post it on a public website operated by a member of the group, the release said.
The victims have been forced to pay to have their information removed from or kept off the website, the release added.
If convicted, Ceraolo faces up to 20 years in prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and both men face five years in prison for conspiracy to commit computer intrusions, according to the release.
