Hacker pleads guilty to stealing 1.8 million credit cards

One of the most prolific computer hackers in U.S. history pleaded guilty yesterday in federal court to stealing almost 2 million credit card numbers in what prosecutors called a "massive" wire fraud case costing banks some $86 million.

Max Ray Vision, 36, formerly known as Max Ray Butler, admitted that he used encryption programs to disguise extensive hacking into financial institutions and data processing centers from his California apartments.

Mr. Vision, known online as "Iceman," "Digits," "Aphex" and "Darkest," maintained a series of safe houses in San Francisco that he rented under false names to avoid detection.

"That's me, and this is what I did," he told Senior U.S. District Judge Maurice Cohill Jr. after the prosecution summarized the details of the case as part of the plea. "I am guilty."

He was prosecuted here because two Pittsburgh-area informants working with the U.S. Secret Service infiltrated his online operation and would have testified against him had he gone to trial.

His partner, Christopher Aragon of Los Angeles, also would have testified against him. Mr. Aragon, who referred to Mr. Vision as "Sam" and met with him once a month, is being prosecuted by the district attorney's office in Orange County, Calif., where his case is pending.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Luke Dembosky said Mr. Vision and Mr. Aragon established CardersMarket, an online forum devoted to the theft of credit card accounts and identity information that had about 4,500 members worldwide.

Mr. Vision provided many of the card numbers to Mr. Aragon to be encoded onto plastic cards and used to buy merchandise, Mr. Dembosky said. Mr. Vision also sold cards directly online, often to members of the CardersMarket network.

A forensic search of Mr. Vision's computer following a Secret Service raid on his apartment in September 2007 revealed 1.8 million stolen credit card accounts. The total amount of fraudulent purchases on those cards was $86.4 million.

"These losses were borne by the thousands of banks that issued the cards," Mr. Dembosky said.

The exact amount will help Judge Cohill determine a sentence and restitution order, although Michael Novara, Mr. Vision's public defender, argued that the figure may be too high because it includes card numbers that Mr. Vision had collected from other hackers and might not have been aware that he had in his possession.

He described Mr. Vision as a "hacker's hacker" who sometimes gained access to other hackers' computers for no other reason than "because he could."

Mr. Vision, who changed his name shortly before he was arrested, was the target of a 16-month investigation by the Secret Service, which handles financial crimes, and police in California and Canada.

Before his identity was known, a Pittsburgh-area informant gained the trust of "Iceman" as an administrator of the CardersMarket Web site.

The informant, said Mr. Dembosky, told the Secret Service about the network's activities and provided information from Iceman that indicated he was the same person as "Digits" and "Aphex" -- all Mr. Vision's online personas.

The second Pittsburgh-area informant twice bought credit card information from "Digits" in 2006, transactions that formed the basis of the indictment.

After Judge Cohill set sentencing for Oct. 20, federal marshals led Mr. Vision back to jail in shackles.

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