Massive Online ID Fraud Ring Busted

Iphtashu Fitz writes "CNet News is reporting that the US Secret Service in conjunction with authorities in six foreign countries have arrested 28 people in the last 48 hours on charges of identity theft, computer fraud, credit card fraud and conspiracy. Dubbed Operation Firewall, the Secret Service identified a group of people who stole over 1.7 million credit card numbers as well as a passport-forging facility in Bulgaria. The investigation started in July 2003 when the Secret Service began investigating an unspecified financial crime. They identified the website Shadowcrew.com whose members traded tutorials and information about identity theft and forgery and exchanged sensitive personal and financial information. The Shadowcrew website has since undergone a makeover thanks to the Secret Service. A press release about the operation can also be found on their website."

Comments

Not very subtle! :)

[evenprime]

The fed-version of their website is priceless. I especially like the music and the picture of hands reaching through the bars of a jail cell.

Yes, but...

[IceFreak2000]

... how long before the US Secret Service gets served a writ by the RIAA for damages related to the use of the Mission Impossible theme tune? ;)

The top secret stamp effect

[Eudial]

Morons. If you want to conspire, wouldn't it be smart to do it somewhere with a wee bit less conspicuous name than shadow crew?

us secret service

[marc252]

I like the phrase:
"CONTACT YOUR LOCAL UNITED STATES SECRET SERVICE FIELD OFFICE....BEFORE WE CONTACT YOU!!"
Yeah! like I know where the local offices are :-) Aren't they supposed to be secret?
Is it like a franchise? You get macdonalds and right next to it "your local us secret service office"!
Great!

slashdot

[Neo-Rio-101]

The Shadowcrew website has since undergone a makeover thanks to the Secret Service.

...and now a free slashdotting to finish them off.

Gov't HTML

[nadaou]

The Secret Service has not yet learnt how to decode the untold mysteries of the
apparently.

Re:Not very subtle! :)

[metlin]

LOL!

From the source-code of the site --

<meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us">
<meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 5.0">
<meta name="ProgId" content="FrontPage.Editor.Document">

No wonder -- the word ShadowCrew does not render properly in Firefox =)

Come on you guys at Secret Service!!! Use a good browser guys ;-)

Note to self

[yo303]

During the course of the investigation, computer underground criminal groups were identified as Shadowcrew, Carderplanet and Darkprofits.

I must remember to make my criminal activity website a little more innocent-sounding the next time.

Darkprofits and Shadowcrew.com? Come on.... they should have gone with shinyfunplace.com or fluffylegitimateactivity.com...

What do you expect to happen if you run imgoingtokillthepresident.com? Happy fun time?

yo.

Re:We need more action on identity theft

[kentmartin]

Identity theft can destroy people, literally.

Identity theft, the worlds leading cause of spontaneous human combustion. Four out of five leading physicists agree.

Re:Clicking on shadowcrew link = being investigate

[ivan37]

I can see the headline now:

"Hundreds of thousends of nerds arrested for suspicion of identity theft"

Yep - you are going to be arrested within an hour of visiting the site because of the Patriot Act and then you will be sent to Cuba within a day and held as an enemy combatant.

Here's a fun trick: Go to your friend's house and ask if you can check your email quick from their computer and visit the site. Sit across the street and laugh as unmarked vans take your friend away.

Re:Wait

[xThinkx]

Apparently they stole several tags as well. Be on the lookout...