Corino Bonjrada, owner of Mondello Ristorante Italiano said he became alarmed after several complaints from customers of suspicious charges after dining at his restaurant. “Every day I had three or four phone calls. They said somebody was? buying stuff in Southern California. I had no idea what was going? on. Some of my customers were saying they didn’t know if they wanted to come back,” Bonjrada said. “They were afraid.” Customers suspected his workers had taken their credit card information and used it, but Bonjrada found no evidence?to support that theory:
“I didn?t know what to do. I went to computer experts. The point of sale people said they couldn?t find anything. Finally I called Ed Guinasso from? Magnolia Tech Outlet in the Village. He said the best thing to do is to change the whole system.? I called the police, of course, first. I was worried about my people here and I was worried about my business. At first the police thought it was? an ?insider.? I checked everyone closely for a week to make sure there were no problems. Finally they sent an FBI computer expert, who asked for the old system.”
According to the Associated Press, this led police to Christopher A. Schroebel, 21, of Maryland, who they say planted spying malware in the sales systems of two Seattle businesses, two of dozens of businesses targeted. Schroebel had collected at least 4,800 credit card numbers in 2011. He was arrested in November 2011 and plead guilty last month to federal charges that included bank fraud. He is set to be sentenced in August. Investigators say?Schroebel worked with David? Benjamin Schrooten,?(known as “Fortezza” in the international hacking community, who sold stolen credit card numbers in bulk? through websites), in creating websites to sell the credit card numbers .??Schrooten was arrested in?Romania and arrived in Seattle on Saturday. He has been charged with 14 crimes,? ranging from access device fraud to identity theft.? The investigation into the ring run by Schrooten is continuing and?he is scheduled back in court Aug. 20.
Said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan at a news conference: “People think that cyber criminals cannot be found or apprehended. Today we know that’s not true. You cannot hide in cyberspace. We will find you. We will charge you. We will extradite you and we will prosecute you.”
Seattle and federal authorities credit Bonjrada?for kicking off the?investigation.
When asked if all?of his customers know there?was a problem, Corino replied,? ?Probably not.? He says customers should ?check?their charges.?? And if they notice an unknown charge?? “They (customers) should call me first to let me know. They?should contact their credit card company. Our system is good now. There are?no problems at all.”???He says.? “(This) made me?sad. I?ve been living here for 15 years. This community is my home. I care about?my customers so much. I care about people. It?s what makes me?successful.? This is a safe place protected by?me. If something happens, we?ll get it.”
Yay! ?Thanks for being a “good guy!” ?(I wonder if this is where my card was compromised… ?I had charges, but in Europe, the week before the dates listed in the Times article.)
Nice work Magnolia Tech Outlet!!
Actually, I found a couple of keyloggers and multiple rootkits on the Point of Sale terminal/brain.. For liability reasons, I suggested to Corino that he get a new ‘imaged’ hard drive from the POS provider.? When the police inquired as to what I had found in terms of viruses on the machine, I told them to come see for themselves, as I still had the drive in my possession.? I think that this is the main reason they were able to track down those responsible.
Awesome!? I love Mondello and hopefully this will bring in even MORE business!
That is great to see local businesses working together to bust criminals.? Good looking out!
Great!! Good for Mr. Bonjrada and Ed Guinasso!
Well now, Mondello just became my favorite restaurant!!!! I hope the Cyber ?criminals are executed to set a firm example!!!!
Congratulations to Mondello and Magnolia Tech Outlet! Great job, guys!
Great work Ed and Magnolia Tech Outlet, and great job taking the issue seriously and calling the right people Corino and Mondello!
Wow great work Ed in finding the issues and good for you Corino! Amazing the criminals can get their spyware directly into the POS terminals. Great story about Mondello carefully tracking this down.
Great! Thanks Corino and Magnolia Tech Outlet!
Way to go Corino!? Score one for the good guys!