Former Hacker: I Can Explain

In a TV news interview this week in Detroit, a former hacker spoke about his experience as a credit card thief, but suggested it was all for fun, at least from his perspective.

    Get the Full Story

    Complete the form to unlock this article and enjoy unlimited free access to all PYMNTS content — no additional logins required.

    yesSubscribe to our daily newsletter, PYMNTS Today.

    By completing this form, you agree to receive marketing communications from PYMNTS and to the sharing of your information with our sponsor, if applicable, in accordance with our Privacy Policy and Terms and Conditions.

    The man did not give his name but said that he had once taken part in schemes to steal millions of credit cards from a major retailer. However, he said he only performed the acts to see if they could be done.

    We’d love to be your preferred source for news.

    Please add us to your preferred sources list so our news, data and interviews show up in your feed. Thanks!

    “I acknowledge some of the things done were illegal, [but] I never had any intent to commit fraud or steal anything,” he told ABC Action News. “Just merely to get in and see what I could do. It was the actions of other defendants that was the actual defrauding.”

    In the interview, he said he told his former conspirators that the plan in 2003 was “a terrible idea.” They were looking for weak spots in nearby companies’ computer servers and were able to access one at a Lowe’s store, he said. “We looked around in there and we were like, ‘Wow.'”

    Want to learn more about the ongoing business data breach crisis? Read our regularly updated digest by clicking here.

    “What’s Hot” is aggregated content. PYMNTS.com claims no responsibility for the accuracy of the content published by the original source.

    Advertisement: Scroll to Continue