Man arrested for PayPal thefts linked to Lizard Squad attacks on Microsoft and Sony

Vincent Omari claims he is just a spokesperson for the Lizard Squad and has nothing to do with PSN and Xbox Live attacks

A 22-year old man that has has been arrested for PayPal thefts, is linked to the Lizard Squad hacker group that has claimed responsibility for attacks on Sony and Microsoft on Christmas Day.

Thames Valley Police released a statement stating that the South East Regional Organised Crime Unit (Serocu) had arrested a man from Twickenham on suspicion of fraud by false representation and Computer Misuse Act offences.

"The arrest... is in connection with an ongoing investigation in to cyber fraud offences which took place between 2013 and August 2014 during which victims reported funds being stolen from their PayPal accounts," Thames Valley Police said.

The man, reportedly named Vincent Omari, has been released on bail until 10 March.

Omari has been linked to the Lizard Squad but he claims that he is only a spokesperson for the organisation, and had nothing to do with attacks on Sony and Microsoft.

Both companies were hit by cyber-attacks which took their networks offline during Christmas, prompting angry customers to take to social media networks to complain - particularly those that had bought the latest Playstation and Xbox consoles as gifts. The Playstation Network (PSN) was down for three days, including Christmas Day, while Xbox Live was taken down on Christmas Day.

The Lizard Squad - or someone claiming to be a spokesperson for the group - claimed the squad orchestrated the attacks because it wanted to demonstrate how weak internet security is.

The organisation also took responsibility for an attack on Sony at the beginning of December. The outage had prevented users from making online purchases via the Playstation web store.

Earlier this week, Sony said that the PSN was back online but warned that heavy traffic could hamper its service.

Meanwhile, Omari reportedly told the Daily Dot that Serocu had raided his home prior to his arrest, taking his Xbox One, phones, laptops and other items.
A court date has not yet been set for Omari.