The Battle for Your Computer

CHAPTER 3“Hello, It's Me, a Nigerian Prince”—New Crime

Albert Gonzalez was born to a Cuban immigrant family in the United States. He was a good boy, who helped his father run his business and studied hard at school in Miami, Florida, where he was branded a “computer geek.” But nobody could imagine what would soon come of him. The big twist in his life came when the computer his parents bought him when he was 12 caught a virus. The young Gonzalez was bummed, but also intensely curious: how could computers be protected from viruses? Why would anyone infect them with viruses in the first place? Soon enough, Albert developed an obsession for computers and went from being a friendly boy who enjoyed helping others to a socially challenged introvert. By the age of 14, Gonzalez had managed to obtain credit card details on the dark web and use them to buy video games, music albums, and shoes, and even to link up with hackers who had breached NASA computers.¹

In time, Gonzalez joined a group calling itself the ShadowCrew, which stole credit card details and other personal information—and sold them. In 2002, the group set up shadowcrew.com as a platform for selling this stolen data, along with a forum for cybercrime professionals to consult with each other and even share documents teaching others how to steal credit card details. Gonzalez was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and became an informant, helping the bureau gather information and reach the criminals active ...