Northern District of Georgia Idaho Man Sentenced for Computer Hacking and Extortion Scheme United States Department of Justice
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ppNEWNAN Ga Robert Purbeck who hacked into the computer servers of the City of Newnan a Griffin Georgia medical clinic and 17 other victims across the United States and stole personal information belonging to more than 132000 people has been sentenced to federal prison Purbeck also attempted to extort a Florida orthodontist for payment in Bitcoin threatening to disclose stolen patient records and other personal informationppPurbecks crimes reflect the efforts of a callous and brazen cybercriminal who not only hacked into numerous computer servers and stole sensitive personal information from both private and public actors but also threatened to extort many of his victims and disclose their data said US Attorney Ryan K Buchanan Thanks to the tireless work of law enforcement Purbecks time of hiding behind a computer to steal threaten and intimidate is overppCyber extortion is unfortunately a rapidly growing threat and highlights the evergrowing need for corporations to remain vigilant in cybersecurity efforts said Sean Burke Acting Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta This sentencing is just one example of the FBI working together to hold criminals that hide behind their computers accountable regardless of their locationppAccording to US Attorney Buchanan the charges and other information presented in court In June 2017 Purbeck purchased access to the computer server of a Griffin medical clinic on a darknet marketplace He then used the stolen credentials to illegally access the computers of the medical clinic and removed records that contained the sensitive personal information of more than 43000 individuals including names addresses birth dates and social security numbersppIn February 2018 Purbeck purchased access to a City of Newnan Police Department server on a darknet marketplace Purbeck used the stolen credentials to hack into the City of Newnans computer systems and stole police reports and other documents including personal information of more than 14000 individualsppPurbeck also attempted to extort a Florida orthodontist in July 2018 demanding a ransom payment in Bitcoin in return for his stolen patient files threatening to sell the patient and personal information unless the orthodontist paid the ransom Additionally Purbeck threatened to sell the personal information of the orthodontists minor child Purbeck harassed the orthodontist and his patients for 10 days with numerous threatening emails and text messagesppOn August 21 2019 FBI special agents executed a federal search warrant at Purbecks home in Meridian Idaho During the search agents seized multiple computers and electronic devices which contained personal information of over 132000 individuals obtained through Purbecks numerous data breaches including the City of Newnan the Griffin medical clinic and at least 17 other victims throughout the United States Many of these victims incurred substantial expenses including remediation costs and disruption to business operations because of Purbecks conductppRobert Purbeck 45 of Meridian Idaho was sentenced by Chief US District Judge Timothy C Batten Sr to 10 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release He was also ordered to pay restitution to his victims in the amount of 104870298 Purbeck was convicted of two counts of computer fraud and abuse on March 19 2024after he pleaded guiltyppThis case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Atlanta Field Office with valuable assistance provided by the FBI Boise Idaho Resident AgencyppAssistant US Attorneys Michael Herskowitz Nathan Kitchens Alex R Sistla and Trial Attorney Brian Mund of the US Department of Justice Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section CCIPS prosecuted the case The US Attorneys Office for the District of Idaho also provided valuable assistance in this caseppFor further information please contact the US Attorneys Public Affairs Office at USAGANPressEmailsusdojgov or 404 5816016 The Internet address for the US Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Georgia is httpwwwjusticegovusaondgappSong Wu a Chinese national has been indicted on charges for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft arising from his efforts to fraudulently obtain computer software and source code createdppNEWNAN Ga Robert Purbeck also known as Lifelock and Studmaster who hacked into the computer servers of the City of Newnan and a Griffin medical clinic and then targetedppAs part of an international law enforcement effort federal authorities seized internet domains that were used to sell computer malware used by cybercriminals to secretly access and steal data fromppNorthern District of Georgia
Main Office
Richard B Russell Federal Building
75 Ted Turner Dr SW
Suite 600
Atlanta GA 303033309ppTel 404 5816000
Fax 404 5816181ppStay ConnectedppppHave a question about Government Servicesp
Official websites use gov
A gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States
pp
Secure gov websites use HTTPS
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Lock
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or https means youve safely connected to the gov website Share sensitive information only on official secure websites
ppNEWNAN Ga Robert Purbeck who hacked into the computer servers of the City of Newnan a Griffin Georgia medical clinic and 17 other victims across the United States and stole personal information belonging to more than 132000 people has been sentenced to federal prison Purbeck also attempted to extort a Florida orthodontist for payment in Bitcoin threatening to disclose stolen patient records and other personal informationppPurbecks crimes reflect the efforts of a callous and brazen cybercriminal who not only hacked into numerous computer servers and stole sensitive personal information from both private and public actors but also threatened to extort many of his victims and disclose their data said US Attorney Ryan K Buchanan Thanks to the tireless work of law enforcement Purbecks time of hiding behind a computer to steal threaten and intimidate is overppCyber extortion is unfortunately a rapidly growing threat and highlights the evergrowing need for corporations to remain vigilant in cybersecurity efforts said Sean Burke Acting Special Agent in Charge of FBI Atlanta This sentencing is just one example of the FBI working together to hold criminals that hide behind their computers accountable regardless of their locationppAccording to US Attorney Buchanan the charges and other information presented in court In June 2017 Purbeck purchased access to the computer server of a Griffin medical clinic on a darknet marketplace He then used the stolen credentials to illegally access the computers of the medical clinic and removed records that contained the sensitive personal information of more than 43000 individuals including names addresses birth dates and social security numbersppIn February 2018 Purbeck purchased access to a City of Newnan Police Department server on a darknet marketplace Purbeck used the stolen credentials to hack into the City of Newnans computer systems and stole police reports and other documents including personal information of more than 14000 individualsppPurbeck also attempted to extort a Florida orthodontist in July 2018 demanding a ransom payment in Bitcoin in return for his stolen patient files threatening to sell the patient and personal information unless the orthodontist paid the ransom Additionally Purbeck threatened to sell the personal information of the orthodontists minor child Purbeck harassed the orthodontist and his patients for 10 days with numerous threatening emails and text messagesppOn August 21 2019 FBI special agents executed a federal search warrant at Purbecks home in Meridian Idaho During the search agents seized multiple computers and electronic devices which contained personal information of over 132000 individuals obtained through Purbecks numerous data breaches including the City of Newnan the Griffin medical clinic and at least 17 other victims throughout the United States Many of these victims incurred substantial expenses including remediation costs and disruption to business operations because of Purbecks conductppRobert Purbeck 45 of Meridian Idaho was sentenced by Chief US District Judge Timothy C Batten Sr to 10 years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release He was also ordered to pay restitution to his victims in the amount of 104870298 Purbeck was convicted of two counts of computer fraud and abuse on March 19 2024after he pleaded guiltyppThis case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation Atlanta Field Office with valuable assistance provided by the FBI Boise Idaho Resident AgencyppAssistant US Attorneys Michael Herskowitz Nathan Kitchens Alex R Sistla and Trial Attorney Brian Mund of the US Department of Justice Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section CCIPS prosecuted the case The US Attorneys Office for the District of Idaho also provided valuable assistance in this caseppFor further information please contact the US Attorneys Public Affairs Office at USAGANPressEmailsusdojgov or 404 5816016 The Internet address for the US Attorneys Office for the Northern District of Georgia is httpwwwjusticegovusaondgappSong Wu a Chinese national has been indicted on charges for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft arising from his efforts to fraudulently obtain computer software and source code createdppNEWNAN Ga Robert Purbeck also known as Lifelock and Studmaster who hacked into the computer servers of the City of Newnan and a Griffin medical clinic and then targetedppAs part of an international law enforcement effort federal authorities seized internet domains that were used to sell computer malware used by cybercriminals to secretly access and steal data fromppNorthern District of Georgia
Main Office
Richard B Russell Federal Building
75 Ted Turner Dr SW
Suite 600
Atlanta GA 303033309ppTel 404 5816000
Fax 404 5816181ppStay ConnectedppppHave a question about Government Servicesp
