A West African man who stole airlines tickets from Global Distribution System companies via a phishing campaign and fraud operation was sentenced to prison for four years and 10 months.

Dark Reading Staff, Dark Reading

June 6, 2017

1 Min Read

A federal court sentenced a West African hacker to a nearly 5-year prison sentence after he used a phishing campaign to steal more than $2 million in illegally obtained airlines tickets, according to the Department of Justice on Monday.

Eric Donys Simeu, 32, who also goes by the name Martell Collins, was arrested by French authorities in September 2014, based on a criminal complaint issued by a US federal court.  

Simeu launched phishing campaigns that targeted Travelport and Sabre customers, in which he would steal those customers' log-in credentials for the Global Distribution System companies. Simeu would then hack into the Sabre and Travelport servers and generate illegally obtained airlines tickets.

He then resold the tickets to mainly customers in West Africa at steeply discounted prices, or would use the tickets for his own personal travel. At the time he was arrested, Simeu was traveling from Casablanca, Morocco, to Paris.

Read more about the travel site hacking case here.

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Dark Reading Staff

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