A man was arrested after his elaborate credit card scam was uncovered. Police in New York, learned that 32-year-old Vadim Polyakov, was the leader of an international Stubhub scam.
Polyakov and his right hand man, Nikolay Matveychuk, 23, bought tickets
through Stubhub with stolen credits. They then resold the tickets for a
profit, prosecutors said.
The men used 3,500 credit cards to purchase the tickets from StubHub,
which is an online marketplace owned by eBay, that allows people to buy
and sell tickets for sports, concerts and live entertainment events.
The men were part of an international ring of cyber thieves who
allegedly hacked into the accounts of more than 1,000 StubHub users and
stole their credit card information.
Polyakov, who is Russian national, was extradited to the United States,
after he was arrested while on vacation in Spain, to face charges over
his fraud in New York.
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. said in a press release that
three of Polyakovโs accomplices were arrested in London, England, two
were arrested in the United States, and one was arrested in Canada.
Polyakov pleaded guilty to the charges that were brought against him.
With the assistance of a translator, he told the court: โI didn’t steal
the credit cards myself, but I knew that they were stolen.โ
Polyakov earned about $1.6 million from the scam. Polyakov, who is
facing four to twelve years in prison, agreed to forfeit $90,000 and
equipment he used in the scam.
