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'Operation Cyber Sweep' Nets 125 Arrests

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the cleaning-up-the-streets dept.

unassimilatible writes "Attorney General John Ashcroft said Thursday that law-enforcement agents had arrested 125 suspects in a crackdown on Internet crimes ranging from hacking and software piracy to credit card fraud and selling stolen goods over the Internet, according to Wired. The investigation, begun Oct. 1 and dubbed Operation Cyber Sweep, involved police from Ghana to Southern California and uncovered 125,000 victims who had lost more than $100 million. Seventy indictments to date have led to arrests or convictions of 125 people, with more expected as the probe continues. The cases range from a Virginia woman who sent fake e-mails to America Online customers asking them to update their credit card numbers to a disgruntled Philadelphia Phillies fan who hacked into computers nationwide and launched spam e-mails criticizing the baseball team. 'The information superhighway should be a conduit for communication, information and commerce, not an expressway for crime,' Ashcroft said."

9 of 286 comments (clear)

  1. Ah... by danielrm26 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I guess this is why the guy in Indonesia that wanted to buy some hardware off me with a credit card suddenly stopped replying to my emails. Damn that Ashcroft; the guy wasn't even worried about price.

    --
    dmiessler.com -- grep understanding knowledge
  2. So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Did they catch the founders of PayPal?

  3. Phew! by MisterFancypants · · Score: 5, Funny
    I feel much safer now!

    This Homeland Security thing is really working!

  4. Isn't this the RIAA's job? by Powercntrl · · Score: 5, Funny

    I was under the impression they were the ones who policed the Internet.

    --

    ---
    DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
  5. Ashcroft rocks. by Guano_Jim · · Score: 5, Funny

    I, for one, welcome our new Pentacostal overlords, and would like to remind them as a barely-known Slashdot personality, might be useful in rounding up others to work in their underground Bible camps.

    --
    3D Printing Tips and Tricks at Zheng3.com
  6. #include (standardslashdotresponse.h) by Chairboy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Dear slashdot,

    I for one am outraged about (subject matter)! This is just another instance of (the government/corporation name) sticking it to those of us who still care about (music/freedom/software)!

    In conclusion, stop (subject matter) now!

    Regards,
    Chairboy

    PS, does (subject matter) (run on linux/support OGG Vorbis)? Because if it doesn't, I'm (not buying it/further upset)!

  7. Re:"an expressway for crime" by orthogonal · · Score: 5, Funny

    Thanks to Asscroft, most citizens can be accused of commiting crimes ["terrorism"] at any arbitary point in time.

    Now that's just unfair. John Ashcroft's a great Christian Attorney General.

    And 'Operation Cyber Thought Crime Sweep' doesn't start until next week, you commie pinko medical-marijuana-using atheist Muslim non-Allegiance-pledging bong-selling Democrat terrorist.

    --
    Opinions on the Twiddler2 hand-held keyboard?
  8. Long sentences confuse me by mcd7756 · · Score: 4, Funny

    "...a Virginia woman who sent fake e-mails to America Online customers asking them to update their credit card numbers to a disgruntled Philadelphia Phillies fan..."

    I'm not a baseball fan. Was it supposed to make him feel better about their season?

    --
    Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them? --Abraham Lincoln
  9. Re:Ashcroft is not all bad by applemasker · · Score: 4, Funny

    Let's not forget that this guy lost an election to someone who had died before we nominate him for any humanitarian awards.

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    Bush Lies On the Record.