The Manhattan District Attorney's (DA) office announced that they've indicted 17 people and one corporation for trafficking in approximately 95,000 stolen credit card numbers, along with allegations of identity theft and other various forms cybercrime.
The DA's office said that the indictments are the result of a two-year investigation in coordination with the US Secret Service. The accused will face 173 counts of "corruption, grand larceny, money laundering, criminal possession of stolen property, falsifying business records, criminal possession of a forged instrument, scheme to defraud, and conspiracy to commit the crimes of grand larceny and criminal possession of stolen property." The charges stem from alleged criminal activity between 2001 and 2007.
According to a statement issued by the DA, "The defendants created and participated in a computerized marketplace for the global trafficking of stolen credit card numbers and other stolen personal identifying information. That marketplace enabled the defendants to conduct anonymous transactions, via the internet and by other means, using sophisticated payment schemes. The payment schemes were intended to ensure that the participants in the transactions would be impossible to identify, and that the proceeds of their criminal activity could not be traced."
The company named in the indictment, Western Express Cybercrime Group, illegally used approximately 95,000 stolen credit card numbers and moved roughly $35 million through various bank accounts. The company is also alleged to have "provided information and assistance to other members of the group through the \[their\] websites dengiforum.com and paycard2000.com - the latter of which is site the links to many other sites.
