One of the world’s largest web forums devoted to the trade in stolen credit card data has been disabled by an international law enforcement operation led by the Vietnamese High-Tech Crime Unit (HTCU) and the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) of Ministry of Public Security of Vietnam (MPSVN), SOCA, the Metropolitan Police Central e-Crime Unit and the FBI. Simultaneously, CID and HTCU officers in Vietnam arrested eight members of the organised crime group behind the website, and three further arrests of significant forum users were made in the UK by the Dedicated Cheque and Plastic Crime Unit (DCPCU), SOCA and PCeU. The website, which used the name “mattfeuter” had facilitated more than $200m-worth of card fraud worldwide through ‘hacking’ of commercial entities to harvest and then sell data relating to 1.1 million credit cards. The site had approximately 16,000 members, who could gain access via a secure login and specify the quantity and type of credit card data they wanted, with discounts offered for bulk purchases. The site also had a facility for users to check that the card information they were buying was usable. Officers arrested three men in London - a 37 year old from West Ham, a 34 year old from Thornton Heath and a 44 year old from Manor Park. In the US, charges have been brought by the US Department of Justice against Duy Hai Truong, aged 23, of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, one of the suspected ring leaders arrested in Vietnam. The operation remains ongoing; SOCA and PCeU are undertaking activity targeting the wider membership of mattfeuter.ru, while a number of other websites offering stolen card details have also been taken down. Intelligence on those involved in online criminal forums continues to be shared with international law enforcement partners, and further arrests are anticipated.
The successful targeting of the ringleaders was enabled by legislation introduced in 2009 by the Vietnamese government, which made it a criminal offence to fraudulently-obtain card data from overseas targets as well as those within Vietnam.The PCeU and SOCA Cyber are conducting joint operations in anticipation of the establishment of the National Cyber Crime Unit, part of the new National Crime Agency, which will be created by the end of 2013. SOCA’s Andy Archibald, interim Deputy Director of the National Cyber Crime Unit, said: “One of the world’s major facilitation networks for online card fraud has been dismantled by this operation, and those engaged in this type of crime should know that that they are neither anonymous, nor beyond the reach of law enforcement agencies. We and our partners, in the UK and abroad, continue to protect the public and legitimate businesses by targeting websites trading in stolen card data, and relentlessly pursuing those who operate and frequent them.” The investigation is also being supported by Europol and private sector partners including Visa and MasterCard. For advice on safeguarding your personal and financial information, visit www.getsafeonline.org/cardfraud
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