International cyber crime group charged

Eleven people, including three U.S. citizens, have been indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice on charges relating to identity theft and hacking. The suspects were allegedly involved in the theft of more than 40 million debit and credit card accounts in the last three years, including the high-profile case in which the retail giant TJX claimed that over 46.5 million credit cards had been stolen.

U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey commented that the group "used sophisticated computer hacking techniques, breaching security systems and installing programs that gathered enormous qunatities of personal financial data, which they then allegedly sold to others or used themselves." They identified vulnerable commercial networks and collected credit card numbers, PIN numbers and other account data using network sniffers. Some of the information was then sold on via servers in Eastern Europe and the United States.

Albert Gonzalez, one of the defendants, has been charged with computer fraud, wire fraud, access device fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy. Two other Miami men, Christopher Scott and Damon Patrick Toey were also charged. The remaining members of the group (one of whom is only known by an online pseudonym), from countries which include Estonia, Ukraine, the People's Republic of China and Belarus, have been indicted for running and international distribution ring for stolen debit and credit card accounts. If Gonzalez is convicted, he could be sentenced to life in jail.

Mukasey characterized the case as "the single largest and most complex identity theft case ever charged in this country." He also commented that the outcome "shows that, with the cooperation of our law enforcement partners around the world, we can identify, charge and apprehend even the most sophisticated international computer hackers".