MILLIONS of victims of a massive US-based credit card fraud may still be unaware that their details have been stolen by a hi-tech gang, investigators said yesterday.
More than 41 million credit and debit card numbers were hacked from the computers of nine major retailers, but the amount stolen is still being calculated.
Most of the cards were in the United States, but many are from other countries, perhaps
including Britain. Eleven people, including a US secret service informant, face charges, said Michael Mukasey, the US attorney general.
The retailers include TJX Corporation – owner of the British TK Maxx store chain – and Barnes & Noble, the US department of justice said.
Three US citizens, and eight others from countries including Estonia, Ukraine, Belarus and China, have been charged with conspiracy, computer intrusion, fraud and identity theft.
Mr Mukasey said the scam caused "widespread" losses among banks, retailers and ordinary consumers, which were "impossible to quantify at this point".
He continued: "So far as we know, this is the single largest and most complex identity theft case ever charged in this country.
"They used sophisticated computer hacking techniques that would allow them to breach security systems and install programs that gathered enormous quantities of personal financial data, which they then allegedly either sold to others or used themselves."
The full article contains 228 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
