WebProNews

A Connecticut man has been sentenced to four years in prison for his role in a phishing scam that tricked AOL users into turning over personal information.

Charlie Blount, JR., 25 of West Haven, along with Michael Dolan and others conspired to "harvest" email addresses of AOL subscribers from the Internet, according to court documents.

They then spammed thousands of AOL subscribers with bogus emails claiming to be an electronic greeting card. If an AOL user opened the greeting card, their computer would be infected with a trojan preventing them from accessing AOL without entering personal information, including their name, address, Social Security number, credit card number, bank account number, and personal identification number.

Blount and his co-conspirators 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.

A judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut has ordered Blount to pay the victims of the scam restitution in the amount of $33,714.

In August of 2008, Dolan was sentenced to 84 months in prison for his role in the scam.

The 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.