Washington, DC (AHN) - The government has charged 11 individuals as part of a worldwide scheme to defraud nine U.S. companies and steal and sell more than 40 million credit card and debit cards.
The Justice Department indictments in Boston and San Diego charge the group with conspiracy, fraud, identity theft and computer intrusion. Among retailers hit include TJX Cos.,BJ's Wholesale Club Office Max and Barnes & Noble.
Prosecutors allege the people indicted used skimming software to grab credit card numbers, passwords and other financial information that was later stored on U.S. and European computers they controlled.
In 2007, TJX said nearly information from nearly 48 million customer credit cards was stolen in a breach that had its origins in 2005. Since that time, the retail chain has paid MasterCard $24 million and Visa up to $40 million to settle claims.
The Justice Departent Tuesday named Miami-based Albert "Segvec" Gonzales as the ring-leader, accusing him of computer fraud, wired fraud, aggravated identity theft, conspiracy and access device fraud, charges that could result in a lifetime sentence.
Other charged in the indictments were Maksym "Maksik" Yastremskiy of Kharkov, Ukraine and Aleksandr "Jonny Hell" Suvorov of Sillamae, Estonia. Also named by the government were Hung-Ming Chiu and Zhi Zhi Wang, both of China.
By Ed Sutherland
No comments:
Post a Comment