11 CHARGED IN THEFT OF 41 MILLION CARD NUMBERS

August 9, 2008 Sandy G.

Steven Senne/Associated Press
Mark Sullivan, left, director of the Secret Service, and Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey at a news conference on Tuesday.

THE NEW YORK TIMES
By BRAD STONE

Federal prosecutors have charged 11 people with stealing more than 41 million credit and debit card numbers, cracking what officials said on Tuesday appeared to be the largest hacking and identity theft ring ever exposed.

The thieves focused on major national retail chains like OfficeMax, Barnes & Noble, BJ’s Wholesale Club, the Sports Authority and T. J. Maxx — the discount clothes retailer that first suggested the existence of the ring early last year, when it said its systems had been breached by hackers.

Underscoring the multinational, collaborative aspect of organized crime today, three of the defendants are United States citizens, one is from Estonia, three are from Ukraine, two are from China and one is from Belarus. The name and whereabouts of the final defendant are unknown.

Federal officials said a principal organizer of the ring was Albert Gonzalez, a man from Miami who was indicted on Tuesday by a federal grand jury in Boston on charges of computer fraud, wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, conspiracy and other charges. If convicted on all counts, Mr. Gonzalez would face life in prison.

PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK FOR THE COMPLETE STORY:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/business/06theft.html?nl=tech&emc=techa1

~Sandy G.