As you may recall, Anonymous hacked Stratfor back in December and fed the resulting emails to Wikileaks for publication. The group took other information including credit card info, but claimed they would use the resulting money for good.
VentureBeat is reporting that the FBI is claiming Anonymous used the credit card information they stole to rack up $700,000 worth of fraudulent charges. Where was all the money spent? Anonymous claimed that they would use the money to give to charities. A tipster told VentureBeat that they used the money for other self-gratifying purchases, such as $300 for hoodies.
I’m not going to take either side on this one. The FBI can say that Anonymous spent all the money on fraudulent charges. Anonymous can say that it was a “LulzXmas shopping spree.” It’s hard to tell who is right and wrong in these kinds of cases.
#Anonymous made fraudulent charges worth +$700,000 in Stratfor attack | bit.ly/wWcvZv | Don’t hate on our LulzXmas shopping spree.
— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) March 12, 2012
But hey FBI, keep having fun with US tax dollars. I’m sure you guys really enjoyed having a 9 month excuse to play Skyrim and watch pr0n.
— Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) March 12, 2012
It remains to be seen what the $700,000 was used for since the FBI just says it was put towards “fraudulent charges.” For all we know, these fraudulent charges might have been put towards a good cause. It’s a good rule of thumb not to trust anyone at face value.
I’m sure Anonymous and the FBI will keep on throwing accusations at each other until this whole nasty business is put behind us. With the promise of attacks every Friday, I’m pretty sure this isn’t going to end anytime soon.
Do you agree with the FBI on this? Or is Anonymous right that the FBI is hating on their “LulzXmas shopping spree?” Let us know in the comments.