British man used genealogy websites to fuel alleged hacking and insider trading scheme

A London-based man is facing extradition to the United States after allegedly masterminding a scheme to hack public companies prior to their earnings announcements and use the secrets he uncovered to make millions of dollars on the stock market.

39-year-old Robert Westbrook is said to have used genealogy websites to gather personal information about company executives, which he then used to break into their email accounts and steal confidential corporate data.

According to US authorities, on a