US phishing ring members admit fraud charges
534541
Earthlink investigation Three members of an American phishing ring pleaded guilty in Connecticut today to fraud charges over spam emails and "aggravated identity theft".â¦
374487
(InfoWorld) - The U.S. Secret Service has cracked down on an international ID theft ring that is responsible for more than $14 million in fraud losses, the agency said Monday. On June 12, French National Police arrested four on online fraud charges, acting on information provided by the Secret Service, the agency said in a statement. The arrests were part of an undercover investigation into the activities of an online criminal known by the alias, "Lord Kaisersose," who is "associated with Internet sites known for identity theft and financial fraud activities," the Secret Service said. Investigators found more than 28,000 stolen credit- and bank-card numbers as a result of this operation, the Secret Service said. "Fraud losses associated with this investigation have exceeded $14 million," the Secret Service said. At the same time the Secret Service, working with local authorities, closed down an illegal credit card-selling activity based out of Canada and France. This action, called Operation Hard Drive, led to the arrest of two suspects, who are allegedly behind more than $1 million in credit card fraud. French police arrested an unnamed man, who went by the alias THEEEEL on credit card-selling Web sites, on charges relating to ID theft. The second man, Nicholas Joehle, of Calgary, Alberta is alleged to have sold fake credit card readers, known as "skimmers" over the Internet. These devices are often illegally used by employees at legitimate businesses that accept credit cards and are becoming a growing problem in the U.S. Calgary Police recovered 100 such skimmers, a skimmer-making lab, and $30,000 in U.S. and Canadian currency, the Secret Service said.
437150
US consumers and businesses have lost an estimated $US500 million ($688 million) to the internet scam known as &quot;phishing&quot;, with seven out of 10 lured to fake websites, according to a survey.
36812
In a twist, security researchers have discovered a group of hackers who are exploiting a new category of victims -- aspiring Internet scammers.A Moroccan group called &quot;Mr. Brain&quot; is offering free phishing kits on a Web site hosted in France, said Paul Mutton, Internet services developer at Netcraft, a security company in Bath, England.The software packages make it easy to quickly set up a fraudulent Web site mimicking a known brand in order to trick people into divulging credit card details or bank account numbers. Templates for spam e-mail are also included, targeting brands such as Bank of America, eBay, PayPal, and HSBC.Mr. Brain&#39;s Web site lists the kits and what kind of details each one is capable of collecting, such as usernames, passwords or Social Security numbers. Netcraft posted screenshots on its Web site.But what the aspiring scammer doesn&#39;t know is that the phishing kits are designed to send any sensitive information that&#39;s collected back to e-mail accounts controlled by Mr. Brain, Mutton said.&quot;Obviously, that&#39;s why they are offering this stuff for free,&quot; Mutton said. &quot;I was impressed by it.&quot;Mr. Brain hides the special e-mail function in a blend of PHP scripts, one of which is encrypted, Mutton said. Just in case someone decrypts it, Mr. Brain has written at the top of the file &quot;Don&#39;t need to change anything here. Created by Mr. Brain Morocco Team.&quot;The scheme seems to be targeted at new phishers, Mutton said. Mr. Brain benefits since other wannabe scammers shoulder the cost and risk of finding an ISP (Internet Service Provider) to host the phishing site, Mutton said.&quot;Essentially, they&#39;re exploiting all these novice phishers -- basically getting them to do all the hard work,&quot; Mutton said.It&#39;s difficult to tell without further research how many of the free phishing kits linked with this latest scam are live on the Internet, but Mutton said Netcraft noticed one earlier this month targeting Bank of America.&quot;Clearly, these are actively being used in phishing attacks,&quot; Mutton said.
610077
Sell it to the Marines boys Two US brothers have been charged with various crimes after they allegedly sold counterfeit Cisco equipment to several government agencies including the FBI, the Federal Aviation Authority and the Marine Corps.â¦
318769
Fraud losses from email phishing attacks will hit $137m globally in 2004, according to a study from research and consulting firm TowerGroup.
516763
A federal grand jury indicted three people on charges of conspiracy, fraud, and aggravated identity theft related to a "high-tech" scheme to hijack online brokerage accounts.
514693
Three people have pleaded guilty to charges related to spam e-mail that promised U.S. victims millions of dollars from an estate and a lottery, the U.S. Department of Justice announced.
704920
Do-it-yourself phishing kits are freely available on the Internet, a security firm said Thursday, and they will lead to more scams sent to online consumers.
585881
Do-it-yourself phishing kits are being made available for download free of charge from the internet, security watchers have warned.
95344
Do-it-yourself phishing kits are being made available for download free of charge from the Internet, according to anti-virus firm Sophos.
644012
Online tricksters looking to dupe consumers out of credit card numbers and other personal information have netted about $500 million from their hapless victims in the US, a national study released Wednesday showed.
660531
Three people who allegedly sent America Online customers millions of junk e-mail messages touting penny stocks and other Internet gimmicks went on trial Tuesday in the nation's first such felony case.
189473
Hoping to clean up the Internet&#39;s reputation as a haven for scam artists, federal officials unveiled a series of arrests, indictments and convictions Thursday involving a range of cyberfraud.
395933
Gone Spear phishin' A provider of online security services has uncovered a highly sophisticated phishing scheme that has already duped at least 1,400 US executives. They were fooled into sending sensitive information in response to an email purporting to come from officials at the Better Business Bureau.â¦
361168
US enforcement agencies have arrested or charged dozens of people with crimes related to junk e-mail, identity theft and other online scams in recent weeks, according to several people involved in the actions.
228635
A whopping 70% of respondents say they&#39;ve been duped, and 15% admit to revealing personal information. By Thomas Claburn. Phishing could cost consumers $500 million this year, according to a new study conducted