Robert Purbeck, Computer Hacking and Extortion, Idaho 2023

Robert Purbeck, a 45-year-old man from Meridian, Idaho, has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in a brazen computer hacking and extortion scheme that spanned across the United States.

According to court documents, in June 2017, Purbeck purchased access to the computer server of a Griffin, Georgia, medical clinic on a darknet marketplace. He then used the stolen credentials to illegally access the computers of the medical clinic and removed records that contained sensitive personally identifiable information (PII) for over 43,000 individuals, including names, addresses, birth dates, and social security numbers.

Purbeck’s hacking spree did not stop there. In February 2018, he purchased access to a City of Newnan, Georgia, Police Department server on a darknet marketplace. Purbeck used the stolen credentials to hack into the City of Newnan computer systems and stole police reports and other documents, including PII for over 14,000 people.

But it was his attempt to extort a Florida orthodontist in July 2018 that brought his scheme to a halt. Purbeck demanded a ransom payment in Bitcoin in return for his stolen patient files, threatening to sell the patient and personal information unless the orthodontist paid the ransom. He even went so far as to threaten to sell the PII of the orthodontist’s minor child.

Purbeck harassed the orthodontist and his patients for 10 days with numerous threatening emails and text messages. His scheme was eventually uncovered when the FBI executed a federal search warrant at his home in Meridian on August 21, 2019. During the search, the FBI seized multiple computers and electronic devices, which contained personal information of over 132,000 individuals, obtained through Purbeck’s numerous data breaches.

Purbeck pleaded guilty on March 19 to two counts of intentionally accessing and obtaining information from a protected computer without authorization. In addition to his 10-year prison sentence, he was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and pay restitution to his victims in the amount of $1,048,702.98.

The FBI Atlanta Field Office investigated the case, with valuable assistance provided by the FBI Boise Resident Agency. Trial Attorney Brian Mund of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael Herskowitz, Nathan Kitchens, and Alex R. Sistla for the Northern District of Georgia prosecuted the case, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Idaho providing valuable assistance.

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