Man Uses Cartoon Characters' Names To Siphon Thousands Of Dollars From Financial Institutions

A Californian resident by the name of Michael Largent has been charged with allegedly using the names of cartoon characters to open fraudulent online brokerage accounts, the Associated Press reports.

Federal prosecutors are saying Largent managed to siphon cash from several financial institutions including E-Trade Financial Corp. and Charles Schwab & Co., garnering $8,000 from Google Checkout alone.

When you open an online brokering account many companies send a tiny payment (usually under a dollar) just to be sure the user has access to the account they say they do.

So what are a few pennies in the grand scheme of things ? Well, grand and scheme are the operative words in this case, as it seems Largent used an automated script opened some 58,000 accounts with his sights set on penny-pinching the few cents that were sent each time.

According to Wired.com, Largent tried the same thing with Google’s Checkout service, accumulating $8,225.29 in eight different bank accounts at Bancorp Bank.

When questioned by the bank about all those thousands of transfers of such small amounts, Wired says Largent claimed he’d read Google’s terms of service, and that it didn’t prohibit multiple e-mail addresses and accounts. Google is not included in the indictment.

Largent faces 13 counts of computer, mail and wire fraud and is scheduled to appear in court on June 19th. He is currently released on bail (reportedly $25,000).

Largent used fake names, addresses, drivers licence numbers and social security numbers. Names used include Johnny Blaze, Hank Hill, and Rusty Shackelford. The former being the alias Dale Gribble (King of the Hill) uses.

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Both the affadavit and indictment are available from Wired