Hacker, 18, cracks details of Bill Gates's credit card
By Rajeev Syal

A BRITISH teenager, arrested after an FBI investigation into international computer hacking, says he obtained the credit card number of Bill Gates, the head of Microsoft and the world's richest man.

Raphael Gray, 18, is accused of breaking into 23,000 computerised credit card accounts, including that of Mr Gates, which were gleaned from eight banking websites. Gray, who calls himself the Saint of E-Commerce, and a friend were arrested last Thursday in an FBI swoop on the village of Clynderwen, Pembrokeshire, as part of an investigation into a suspected £2 million fraud.

He said: "I knew the man was from the FBI because he had an American accent and was wearing a trench coat. There were eight local police officers in a riot van with him so it was an unusual sight in Clynderwen." Mr Gates's details, along with the other credit card numbers, had been sent by the hacker, working under the name "Curador", the Welsh for custodian, in an e-mail to NBCi, a subsidiary of the American broadcasting group.

Gray said: "I just wanted to prove how insecure these sites are. I have done the honest thing but I have been ignored. That's why I posted the information on the internet." Both Gray and a second 18-year-old who has not been named were held for questioning for 12 hours before being released on police bail.

Gray began his hacking spree six weeks ago, finding his way into e-commerce sites in the US, Canada, Britain and Thailand. He knew he had been tracked down while online to a site in Canada. The company involved contacted the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and as a result of their investigation the FBI, Interpol and British police became involved.

An FBI officer flew from Philadelphia to crack what they believed was a hardened gang of internet criminals. But instead they found Gray, who has been using a £700 laptop.

A Microsoft spokesman said yesterday: "It's not our policy to comment on any individuals' credit card details - even those of Bill Gates."