The teenager admitted charges of money laundering and fraud committed in April 2020, but he's avoided jail time because of his age.
Police have seized $2.75m from a 16-year-old boy who scammed dozens of people out of their personal details by setting up a copycat website.
As lockdown restrictions were imposed in the U.K., the teenager launched a fraudulent copy of Love2Shop, a gift voucher platform, according to Spalding Today.
He then used Google Advertising to increase the website’s visibility, prompting unsuspecting consumers to visit his page instead.
From here, many victims entered their email addresses and passwords — enabling thefts to take place.
A police investigation uncovered more than 12,000 credit card numbers on his computer, as well as 197 PayPal accounts.
The teenager invested a substantial amount of his ill-gotten gains into cryptocurrency — and detectives were stunned to discover a balance of 48 Bitcoin.
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What Happens Next?
A court heard that the teenager is currently studying for exams, and that he had admitted charges of money laundering and fraud committed in April 2020.
He has avoided jail time, and instead will be ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work. A confiscation order was also imposed to retrieve his crypto.
Judge Catarina Sjolin Knight told him:
“You have a long-standing interest in computers. Unfortunately, you used your skills to commit a sophisticated fraud.”
