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Operation Phish Phry Nabs 100 Identity Thieves
Published: Oct 09, 2009Identity Theft Expert Robert Siciliano
US and Egyptian officials have charged 100 people with orchestrating a phishing scam that robbed a$1.5m from Bank of America and Wells Fargo customers.
53 criminals from CA, NV and NC were named in an indictment. This is the largest ever charged in a cybercrime case. Officials in Egypt nabbed another 47 people.
Egyptian criminals phished account numbers and accessed bank accounts. The Egyptians and the US phishers transferred money into mules accounts.
This is an example of the sophistication of criminal identity theft rings and organized global web mobs fully ramped up and knocking off victims by the thousands.
“The sophistication with which Phish Phry defendants operated represents an evolving and troubling paradigm in the way identity theft is now committed,” said the FBI in Los Angeles.
The New York Times recently reported the bust of a vast conspiracy known as the Western Express Cybercrime Group, which trafficked in stolen credit card information through the Internet and used it to create forged credit cards and to sell goods on eBay. They used digital currencies like e-gold and Webmoney to launder their proceeds.
It’s great seeing criminals getting busted. And the fact remains there are lots more cybercriminals than there are law enforcement. But keep up the good work guys/gals!!
- Check your credit card statements often. Refute unauthorized charged within 60 days to be made whole by the issuing bank.
- Anytime you ever receive an email asking for personal information, credit information, banking etc, do not enter it. Just hit delete. Often victims will receive and email from what looks like a trusted source but is actually a phish.
- Get a credit freeze. Go to ConsumersUnion.org and follow the steps for your particular state. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases, it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. This makes your Social Security number useless to a potential identity thief.
- Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft protection can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk.
Robert Siciliano identity theft speaker discussing money mules on Fox News
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