A rumor is spreading via the Pheebay Forums that the Vladuz Arrest was a cleverly planned spoof!
IF it is - eBay and a bunch of others swallowed the Bait, Hook Line & Sinker!
Now isn’t this interesting??
Romanian news site antena3.ro wrote this article.
This is supposed to be a photo of Vladuz covering his face on the way to the clink.
There is a good sized thread regarding V’s arrest on eBay’s T&S Board.
Does anyone have any other information on this rumor??
Updated 04/20/2008, Apparently the Pheebay Admin was telling a tall tale!
There are numerous videos and articles claiming Vladuz is indeed in the clink!
ARREST
BUCHAREST, ROMANIA
APRIL 18, 2008
NATURAL
DURATION:01:15
SOURCE:REALITATEA TV/POLICE VIDEO
FEED HISTORY:CEEF (1315GMT)
INTRO: Romanian police arrest man accused of being eBay hacker.
TV AND WEB RESTRICTIONS~**NO ACCESS ROMANIA**~
Romanian authorities arrest a man, accused of being ebay hacker
“Vladuz”.
+++FULL SCRIPT TO FOLLOW+++
SHOWS: (CEEF) BUCHAREST, ROMANIA (APRIL 18, 2008) (POLICE VIDEO - NO ACCESS
ROMANIA)
1. BUILDING WHERE ACCUSED COMPUTER HACKER, VLAD DUICULESCU, LIVES
2. DUICULESCU HANDCUFFED IN HIS APARTMENT
3. VARIOUS OF POLICE OFFICERS COLLECTING EVIDENCE
(CEEF) BUCHAREST, ROMANIA (APRIL 18, 2008) (REALITATEA TV - NO ACCESS
ROMANIA)
4. POLICEMAN WALKING WITH DUICULESCU (HEAD COVERED) INTO POLICE STATION
5. DUICULESCU INSIDE POLICE STATION
6. DUICULESCU WITH POLICE OFFICER WALKING INTO PROSECUTOR’S OFFICE
STORY: Police in Romania have arrested a man accused of hacking into email
accounts belong to eBay employees over two years.
Media reports said 20-year old Vlad Duiculescu, is “Vladuz”,
an online hacker who posted taunting messages on the internet site of the
auction house, saying he had accessed the company’s database.
Romanian media said that before police raided Duiculescu’s apartment,
he managed to throw three laptops from his balcony.
Romanian internet sites are reporting that on April 19, 2005, the
US-Secret Service sent Romanian authorities a notice on the internet sale of
an application containing the source code of the eBay login page, which
required users to enter usernames and passwords. They report that following
investigations, it was found that eBay users were being redirected to fake
websites.
The BBC in Romania reported that Duiculescu was arrested for
fraudulently accessing email accounts resulting in two million US dollars in
damage. But Bbay has been quoted on internet sites as saying that while
numerous efforts were made to defraud eBay users, Vladuz was unsuccessful in
his attempts.
An article by the Guardian newspaper in October 2007 reported that eBay
had been hunting for "Vladuz" for some time. It was believed he had
a history of operating and facilitating eBay based scams.
Here is a Video Link showing Vlad “Vladuz” Duiculescu sitting handcuffed in his apartment. And that Black Firemeg T-shirt - “Got Vladuz” is a priceless part of the news story.
I would say this bust is the Romanian equivalent of our Feds Busting Ole Alfonse “Al ” Capone back in the prohibition days!
Vlad at least pointed out numerous eBay security issues - and i wonder if eBay fixed them? Somehow i kind of doubt it.
And it has been said that eBay knew where Vlad was all the time - they only acted when a new hacking threat was evident.
