A 37-year-old New York man was sentenced to four years in jail for purchasing stolen credit card information and collaborating with the Infraud Organization, a cybercrime cartel.
On October 13, 2021, John Telusma, also known as “Peterelliot,” pled guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy. He joined the group in August 2011 and stayed for five and a half years.
“Telusma was one of the most prolific and active members of the Infraud Organization, obtaining and illegally exploiting hacked credit card information for his own personal benefit,” according to the US Justice Department.
Before its internet infrastructure was demolished by US law enforcement officials in February 2018, Infraud, an international cybercrime giant, had been in operation for more than seven years, touting its operations under the motto “In Fraud We Trust.”
The rogue organization indulged in the large-scale capture and sale of compromised credit card data, personally identifiable information, and other digital contraband, allowing the exchange of over four million stolen credit and debit card numbers.
“The group steered traffic and potential customers to its members’ automated vending sites, which acted as online conduits to trade in stolen means of identity, stolen financial and banking information, malware, and other illicit commodities,” the Department of Justice said at the time.
“It also provided an escrow service to facilitate illicit digital currency transactions among its members and used screening protocols that purported to ensure that only high quality vendors of stolen cards, personally identifiable information, and other contraband were permitted to advertise to members,” the statement continued.
The gang is believed to have cost consumers, companies, and financial institutions a total of $568 million.
Telusma is the 14th Infraud Organization member to be convicted in connection with the Infraud conspiracy. Sergey Medvedev, Marko Leopard, Valerian Chiochiu, David Jonathan Vargas, Pius Sushil Wilson, Gennaro Fioretti, Jose Gamboa, Aldo Ymeraj, and Taimoor Zaman are also co-conspirators.
