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178 Arrested In US/EU Credit Card Cloning Ops
eldavojohn writes with this report from Brian Krebs: "Authorities have moved in on 178 people accused of working in credit card cloning labs across the USA and Europe, but with the bulk of the work apparently operating out of Spain. The source states that 'Police in 14 countries participated in a two-year investigation, initiated in Spain, where police have discovered 120,000 stolen credit card numbers and 5,000 cloned cards, and arrested 76 people and dismantled six cloning labs. The raids were made primarily in Romania, France, Italy, Germany, Ireland, and the United States, with arrests also made in Australia, Sweden, Greece, Finland, and Hungary. The detainees are also suspected of armed robbery, blackmail, sexual exploitation, and money-laundering, the police said.' Krebs notes a new credit card debuting at Turkish banks that appears to have a built-in LCD that has a random six-digit number associated with each transaction much like RSA SecurID keys used for computer logins."
Terrific. 6 more ways for a mouth-breathing cash-register operator to fuck up your transaction...
"This short paper will examine several discovered statistical irregularities
in functions used within the SecurID algorithm: the time
computation and final conversion routines. Where and how these irregularities
can be mitigated by usage and policy are explored."
http://www.linuxsecurity.com/resource_files/cryptography/initial_securid_analysis.pdf
My point is just because it is encased in plastic does not mean that the number can not be determined.
- SR
Which in Europe is still pretty good wages though. If you don't work (or don't report that you work), you still get paid a minimum wage, your housing and utility costs become subsidized and healthcare is practically free. If you have kids, you get free food and clothing for them. So you get 20k on top of that.
Custom electronics and digital signage for your business: www.evcircuits.com
In a couple years, 90% of all financial transactions will be fraudulent, like spam e-mail.
I'm on less than £20k per year and it's plenty enough to live on.
Perhaps their conscience feels better stealing from credit card companies instead of average taxpayers.
Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
Any countries let you flee from the USA yet?
This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
TFA is to PC to say it outright, but putting Romania at the head or the list says it is a Gypsy operation.
These are multi-generational career criminal families. And the Spanish police seem unable to do anything about it.
There was a good documentary on the BBC:
How Gypsy gangs use child thieves