Oklahoma man hacked authorities public sale web site to purchase vehicles for a buck

An Oklahoma man used his laptop expertise to defraud Uncle Sam, hacking right into a authorities public sale web site to decrease the value of automobiles and jewellery he’d efficiently bid on from hundreds of {dollars} down to at least one buck, federal prosecutors stated.

Evan James Coker, 41, pleaded responsible to wire fraud in a scheme involving on-line auctions run by the Basic Service Administration to see off surplus, seized or forfeited property held by the federal government, in accordance with the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace District of Minnesota. 

The auctions are carried out on-line by way of servers in Eagan, Minnesota, famous U.S. States Legal professional Andrew Luger.

Between Feb. 25 and March 6, 2019, Coker bid in a number of auctions for automobiles and jewellery on the GSA web site. As soon as his gives have been accepted, Coker breached the pay.gov web site and adjusted the value of every of the gadgets to a buck, the prosecutor stated in a information release.

All informed, Coker bid on and received 19 public sale gadgets, fraudulently paying solely $1 for every, together with a 2010 Ford Escape Hybrid for which he bid $8,327; a Ford F550 pickup truck that he bid $9,000 for and a Chevrolet C4500 Field Truck, for which Coker had signed as much as pay $22,700. 

Coker pleaded responsible on Wednesday in U.S. District Court docket earlier than Choose Michael Davis to at least one depend of wire fraud, together with his sentencing listening to to be scheduled at a later date.