Teen phisher escapes jail

An 18-year-old from Cambridgeshire has escaped a prison sentence after being found guilty of being involved in a phishing scam.

Ronaldus Janusevicius was fined more than £600 and ordered to perform community service after a judge at Fenland Magistrates Court found him to be no more than a pawn in an elaborate scam.

The victim had £9,000 stolen from his bank account after responding to an email, sent from Janusevicius' email address, which appeared to be from Lloyds TSB.

The money stolen from the man also ended up in Janusevicius' bank account, but this was because a 'mystery' man had taken Janusevicius' bank details and used him as a mule.

"The biggest criminal here is sadly the one we know nothing about: the unknown man. He was laundering the proceeds of his phishing scam through Janusevicius’ account in order to save his own skin," said Graham Cluley of security firm Sophos.

Janusevicius had only come to the UK from Lithuania a year previously and had recently lost his job, leaving him in financial difficulty.

"This case is a salutory reminder that crime doesn’t pay. Not only was Janusevicius found guilty and sentenced, but he also never received any payment from his criminal cohort," said Cluley.

www.sophos.com