Hacker sentenced to more than 4 years in prison for infiltrating Phoenix company

PHOENIX —  A hacker was sentenced to 51 months in prison for stealing credit card numbers and rewards points from a Phoenix-based international hospitality company, authorities said.

Chirag Patel, 38, who previously pleaded guilty to computer fraud, was also ordered to pay $87,522.25 in restitution and serve three years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the District of Arizona.

Between August 2017 and July 2020, the Norfolk, Virginia, man hacked into the Phoenix company’s computers, transferred and redeemed customer reward points from its customer loyalty program and stole credit card numbers and other personally identifying information from customers. He kept screenshots of the information on a Google Drive.

Patel stole more than 1,200 credit card numbers, prosecutors said.

He tried to sell some of the numbers and used others to make unauthorized purchases.

The FBI investigated the case, and United States District Judge G. Murray Snow gave the sentence.

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