US man charged in massive credit card theft
scheme
WASHINGTON (AFP) - - A 28-year-old man was charged with
the largest credit card theft ever in the United States, in which
more than 130 million card numbers were stolen, the Justice
Department said.
Albert Gonzalez, of Miami, Florida, and two co-conspirators were
accused of hacking into the computer networks of firms supporting
major American retail and financial organizations and stealing
data.
The two co-conspirators were not named and were identified in
the indictment handed down in New Jersey only as "Hacker 1" and
"Hacker 2" living "in or near Russia."
Beginning in October 2006, Gonzalez used a sophisticated hacking
technique to get around firewalls and steal information related to
more than 130 million credit and debit cards, the Justice
Department said in a statement.
"The scheme is believed to constitute the largest hacking and
identity theft case ever prosecuted by the US Department of
Justice," the US Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey
said.
Targeted companies included Heartland Payment Systems, a New
Jersey-based card payment processor; 7-Eleven Inc., a Texas-based
nationwide convenience store chain; and Hannaford Brothers Co.
Inc., a Maine-based supermarket chain.
Gonzalez and his co-conspirators sent stolen data to computer
servers they operated in Latvia, the Netherlands, the United States
and Ukraine and used "sophisticated hacker techniques to cover
their tracks and to avoid detection by anti-virus software used by
their victims," the Justice Department said.
Gonzalez, who operated online as "segvec," "soupnazi" and
"j4guar17," was charged with conspiracy and conspiracy to engage in
wire fraud.
If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison for wire fraud
conspiracy and an additional five years in prison for conspiracy as
well as a fine of 250,000 dollars for each charge.
Gonzalez is scheduled to go on trial in New York next month on
separate charges for allegedly hacking into the computer network of
a national restaurant chain.
He is facing a separate trial next year in yet another case, in
which he is accused of hacking into the computer networks of eight
major retailers and stealing data related to 40 million credit
cards.