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International Undercover Investigation Prevents Millions in Financial Loss
An information age undercover investigation led by the U.S. Secret Service, in collaboration with domestic and foreign law enforcement, the U.S. Department of Justice and investigators from the financial services industry, has led to the arrests of 28 individuals. The suspects, located across eight states and six foreign countries, were involved in a global organized cyber crime network. Charges against the suspects include identity theft, computer fraud, credit card fraud and conspiracy.
“Led by the Secret Service Newark Field Office, investigators from nearly thirty domestic and foreign Secret Service offices and their global law enforcement counterparts have prevented potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in loss to the financial and hi-tech communities” said Secret Service Director W. Ralph Basham. “Information is the world’s new currency,” he continued. “These suspects targeted the personal and financial information of ordinary citizens as well as the confidential and proprietary information of companies engaged in e-commerce.”
The Operation Firewall investigation has resulted in the significant disruption of cyber criminal activity targeting the financial infrastructure of the United States. With the suspects collectively having trafficked in at least 1.7 million stolen credit card numbers, financial institutions have estimated their actual losses associated with the suspects in the investigation to be more than $4.3 million. However, authorities calculate that they prevented losses to the industry amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars with the disruption of this criminal enterprise.
The indictment is a result of a year-long investigation.
The assistance of international law enforcement has been and will continue to be critical to the success of Operation Firewall. Specific support was provided by police agencies in Belarus, Bulgaria, Poland, Sweden, the Netherlands and Ukraine and the U.S. Department of State.
The Secret Service has taken a lead role in the emerging area of cyber crime and, through a
nationwide network of 15 electronic crimes task forces, has established working partnerships
in both the law enforcement and business communities to address such issues as protection of
critical infrastructure, internet intrusions and associated fraud.
Contact the United States Secret Service Office of Government and Public Affairs at 202-406-5708.
Additional information on Operation Firewall is available through the United States District Court, District of New Jersey.
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