Massachusetts Man Charged with Computer Hacking and Credit Card Theft

A Massachusetts man was charged today with allegedly hacking into computer networks around the country – including networks belonging to law enforcement agencies, a local police department and a local college – to obtain highly sensitive law enforcement data and alter academic records.  He also obtained stolen credit, debit and payment card numbers.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz of the District of Massachusetts, Special Agent in Charge Vincent Lisi of the FBI’s Boston Division and Colonel Timothy P. Alben of the Massachusetts State Police made the announcement.

Cameron Lacroix, 25, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, was charged by a criminal information with two counts of computer intrusion and one count of access device fraud.  In a written plea agreement filed with the information, Lacroix has agreed to plead guilty to these charges and to serve a four-year prison sentence.    No date for a change of plea hearing has yet been scheduled.

According to allegations in the information, b etween May 2011 and May 2013, Lacroix allegedly obtained and possessed payment card data for more than 14,000 unique account holders.   For some of these account holders, Lacroix also obtained other personally identifiable information, including the account holders’ full names, addresses, dates of births, social security account numbers, email addresses, bank account and routing numbers, as well as listings of merchandise the account holders had ordered.

In September 2012, Lacroix allegedly hacked into a computer server operated by a local Massachusetts police department and accessed an e-mail account belonging to the chief of police.   From August 2012 through November 2012, Lacroix is accused of repeatedly hacking into law enforcement computer servers containing sensitive information including police reports, intelligence reports, arrest warrants, and sex offender information.   Lacroix is also accused of using stolen credentials to access and change information in the servers of Bristol Community College on multiple occasions between September 2012 and December 2013.

The case was investigated by the FBI Boston Division Cyber Task Force.   The case is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney Mona Sedky from the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Bookbinder of the District of Massachusetts.   The Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorney’s Office would like to thank Bristol Community College for its cooperation during this investigation.