A New Bedford man was charged Monday with hacking into computer networks nationwide and stealing payment card data and personally identifiable information for more than 14,000 account holders.
Cameron Lacroix was charged with two counts of computer intrusion and one count of access device fraud.
Between May 2011 and May 2013, Lacroix obtained and possessed payment card data for more than 14,000 unique account holders, and in some cases, he also obtained personally identifiable information, including full names, addresses, dates of birth, Social Security numbers, bank account and routing numbers and lists of merchandise the account holders had ordered. A spokesperson from the U.S. Attorney’s Office could not yet clarify how Lacroix had obtained that information.
Authorities said that between September 2012 and November 2013, Lacroix, then a student at Bristol Community College, repeatedly hacked into the school’s servers and used stolen log-in credentials to alter course grades for himself and two other students.
According to the charges against him, Lacroix also hacked into the server of a local Massachusetts police department and accessed the police chief’s email account. Authorities said he repeatedly hacked law enforcement servers that contained sensitive information, including police reports, intelligence reports, arrest warrants and sex offender information.
Lacroix has agreed to plead guilty. If the court accepts his plea agreement, Lacroix will be sentenced to four years in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
The case was investigated by the FBI Boston Division Cyber Task Force, and in a statement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office acknowledged the cooperation and assistance of Bristol Community College.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam Bookbinder, Chief of U.S. Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz’s Cyber Crime’s Unit and Senior Trial Attorney Mona Sedky from the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, are prosecuting the case.





