United States Attorney's Office District of Connecticut
Press Release

WEST HAVEN MAN INVOLVED IN EMAIL PHISHING AND SPAMMING SCHEME IS SENTENCED

David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that RICHARD D’ANDREA, 25, of West Haven, was sentenced today by Chief United States District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to approximately one day of imprisonment, time served, and three years of supervised release, for his involvement in a “phishing” and “spamming” scheme that targeted AOL subscribers.  On September 27, 2006, D’ANDREA pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit fraud in connection with access devices, and one count of aggravated identity theft.

According to court documents and statements made in court, D’ANDREA, Michael Dolan and others conspired to “harvest” email addresses of AOL subscribers from the Internet.  The defendants then spammed thousands of AOL subscribers with counterfeit emails purporting, for example, to convey an electronic greeting card.  If an AOL subscriber attempted to view the greeting card, the subscriber’s computer would be infected with a software trojan preventing the subscriber from accessing AOL without entering information including the subscriber’s name, address, Social Security account number, credit card number, bank account number, and personal identification number.  The defendants used the information to produce counterfeit debit cards, which they used at ATM machines, online, and at retail outlets to obtain money, goods, and services.

Today, Judge Thompson ordered D’ANDREA to pay to the victims of this scheme restitution in the amount of $33,714.

On August 13, 2008, Dolan was sentenced to 84 months of imprisonment.

This case was investigated by the West Haven Police Department, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the United States Secret Service, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Edward Chang.

CONTACT:

U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
Tom Carson
(203) 821-3722
thomas.carson@usdoj.gov