Federal prosecutors have reportedly identified the person responsible for a widespread credential-stuffing scam that occurred at DraftKings Sportsbook in November. The US Attorney’s Office Southern District New York filed charges against Joseph Garrison an 18-year old Wisconsin resident, on six counts of fraud that affected over 60,000 DraftKings clients and involved more than $600,000.
Garrison could face up to 20 years behind bars. He will appear in court on Thursday afternoon.
Garrison learned today, thanks to the work of my Office and the FBI, that you shouldn’t bet on getting away with fraud,” said US Attorney strong>Damian Williams/strong> in a a href=”https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/wisconsin-man charged-hacking fantasy sports betting website” rel=”noreferrer noopener” target=”_blank”>state Garrison has learned today, through the efforts of my Office and FBI, that it is not worth gambling on fraud.
In February, law enforcement officers searched Garrison’s home and confiscated his computers and cellphones. They found evidence that Garrison had illegally obtained logins to thousands of accounts. He used the programs OpenBullet and SilverBullet in order to use these credentials on online sportsbooks and gambling websites like DraftKings.
Garrison would deposit $5 into an account to establish a new method of payment, verify the method, and then withdraw money from the account using that method. He was able successfully to withdraw money from approximately 1,500 accounts.
In the complaint, there were text messages between Garrison and co-conspirators. These included instructions on how two-factor authentication could be bypassed. Garrison admitted in those conversations that he had been involved in fraud scams before. Garrison also admitted to previous fraud scams.
In June, authorities interviewed Garrison and discovered that he previously ran a website named “Goat Shop”, which sold hacked account. He earned about $15,000 per day between 2018 and 2021, totaling more than $800,000.
Garrison, as alleged, gained unauthorized access to victims’ accounts by using a sophisticated cyber-breaching to steal hundreds and thousands of dollars. Cyber-attacks that aim to steal funds from private individuals pose a serious threat to our economic security. The FBI’s top priority is to combat cyberattacks, and hold the threat actors responsible in the criminal justice systems.
The case will be prosecuted by the Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit, with Assistant US Attorneys Kevin Mead and Micah Ferguson leading the charge.
The American Gaming Association Senior vice president of Government Relations Chris Sykes said, “Today’s announcement reinforces the need for law enforcement to take fraudsters and criminals seriously at all levels.”
