A STRING of criminal cases was filed against a supposed hacker who allegedly took over a computer of a Western Union outlet in uptown Cebu City and made over P2 million in bogus payouts to partners in just four weeks. Mark Tapere Siarot faces one case for allegedly violating the E-Commerce Law. But he also faces 19 counts of estafa together with Joevani Estremera and Ryan Lagbo, the two Western Union employees who allegedly gave Siarot the method of access and the codes to carry out the July 2008 cybercrime.
“A computer password is supposed to be one of the most guarded secrets in a computer system as it is the gateway… to a company’s confidential programs and transactions,” said City Prosecutor Nicolas Sellon of the two employees in the Aug. 13, 2009 indictment. Five other co-respondents—Arlie Malabatan, Bermar Anthony Berongan, Charlton Ibonia, Runil Abella and Sofia Kyla Cortes—face one count of estafa each for every transaction they took part in. They allegedly received the payout and claimed the money that came as a result of Siarot’s hacking.
“The respondents proceeded to perform their respective acts by identifying themselves as the payees… resulting in the release of the money. Stated otherwise, had they desisted from performing their respective acts, no crime of estafa would have been consummated,” Sellon said. The cases, in turn, stem from a complaint filed by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), whose cybercrimes division is tasked to enforce the E-Commerce Law. Based on the complaint signed by NBI 7 Director Medardo de Lemos, Siarot allegedly managed to take over the company’s computer by getting Estremera and Lagbo to download and install a free program called Team Viewer in the target computer.
The program, according to the NBI, allowed Siarot, who used to work for the H. Lhuillier main office, to gain access to the branch’s computer as if he were facing the console. Estremera and Lagbo allegedly also gave Siarot the branch’s access codes. The backdoor access and the access codes, the NBI said, allowed Siarot to make fictitious money remittance accounts ranging from P60,000 to P150,000 to the other co-respondents at a rate of twice a day from July 21 to August 30, 2008. The co-respondents, including four other people who switched sides and issued affidavits implicating Siarot, then went to the Western Union sub-agents where Siarot sent the money and claimed it.
According to the NBI, Siarot was always present when the money was claimed, got the money from the co-respondents and gave them a cut. The number of people involved in the incident prompted de Lemos, a lawyer, to consider them a syndicate. Sellon, however, only charged them with simple estafa, a bailable offense. Alfonso Cahilig, the Management Information System supervisor for the H. Lhuillier Western Union main office, discovered the transactions on Sept. 1, 2008, following an internal audit. An investigation ensued, with the Team Viewer program getting found and logs showing who installed it. “The collective action of the employees in effect allowed remote access by the perpetrator to create a fictitious transaction of cash being allegedly sent by fictitious persons and withdrawn by the perpetrators at different
Western Union outlets,” Cahilig said.
http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/‘hack...ransfer-outlet
Western Union outlets,” Cahilig said.
Cebu's ‘Hacker’ charged with diverting P2M
Originally Posted by icon_king
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