Multimillion Dollar Hack-To-Trade Fraudster To be Extradited to the US
Robert Westbrook, 39, of London was arrested in the United Kingdom this week and faces extradition to the United States so that he can face an indictment charging him with securities fraud, wire fraud, and five counts of computer fraud.
From January 2019 through May 2020, Westbrook surreptitiously gained unauthorized access to email accounts belonging to corporate executives employed by certain U.S.-based companies to obtain information about impending earnings announcements. Westbrook then used that information to purchase securities that he sold in short order for substantial profits. The British hacker had implemented auto-forwarding rules designed to automatically forward content from the corporate executives’ compromised email accounts to email accounts controlled by him. Westbrook generated $3.75 million dollars through this scheme. Read more about this story on our LinkedIn page
From January 2019 through May 2020, Westbrook surreptitiously gained unauthorized access to email accounts belonging to corporate executives employed by certain U.S.-based companies to obtain information about impending earnings announcements. Westbrook then used that information to purchase securities that he sold in short order for substantial profits. The British hacker had implemented auto-forwarding rules designed to automatically forward content from the corporate executives’ compromised email accounts to email accounts controlled by him. Westbrook generated $3.75 million dollars through this scheme. Read more about this story on our LinkedIn page