38 Individuals in U.S. and Romania Charged
In Two Related Cases of Computer Fraud Involving International Organized Crime
May 19, 7thSpace – (National)

Thirty-eight (38) individuals with ties to international organized crime have been charged in two separate indictments involving computer and credit card fraud schemes, U.S. and Romanian officials announced Monday. A federal grand jury in Los Angeles charged the individuals in a 65-count indictment unsealed Monday for their alleged participation in an international racketeering scheme that used the Internet to defraud thousands of individual victims and hundreds of financial institutions. According to the indictment, the Romania-based members of the enterprise obtained thousands of credit and debit card accounts and related personal information by phishing, with more than 1.3 million spam emails sent in one phishing attack. Once directed to a bogus site, victims were then prompted at those sites to enter access device and personal information. The Romanian “suppliers” collected the victims’ information and sent the data to U.S.-based “cashiers” via Internet “chat” messages. The domestic cashiers used hardware called encoders to record the fraudulently obtained information onto the magnetic strips on the back of
credit and debit cards, and similar cards such as hotel keys. Cashiers then directed “runners” to test the fraudulent cards by checking balances or withdrawing small amounts of money at ATMs. The cards that were successfully tested, known as “cashable” cards, were used to withdraw money from ATMs or point of sale terminals that the cashiers had determined permitted the highest withdrawal limits. A portion of the proceeds was then wire transferred to the supplier who had provided the access device information. The individuals named in the indictment operated from locations in the United States and abroad including Canada, Pakistan, Portugal and Romania, and include both U.S. citizens and foreign nationals.

Source:
http://7thspace.com/headlines/281614...zed_crime.html