A member of a global phishing ring has pleaded guilty in the US after allegedly using stolen PayPal identities to steal $200,000 worth of goods from Wal-Mart stores in California.

Authorities claimed that Tien Truong Nguyen would trick PayPal users into inputting their account information through fake emails or pop-up windows. Court documents revealed that then the phishing ring, of which Nguyen was part, would feed the stolen identity data into GE Capital credit kiosks in Wal-Mart stores, which would provide instant credit of up to $2,000 on fraudulent credit cards.

Nguyen was arrested in January 2007 after Wal-Mart fraud investigators were given a tip off. Police discovered thousands of stolen identities on his computer, together with incriminating chat logs, phishing site templates, counterfeit credit cards and a shotgun.
 
The 30-year-old Sacramento man, who allegedly claimed he performed the crimes to fund a methamphetamine addiction, faces ten years in prison for every credit card offence, in addition to ten years for the illegal firearms possession.