The U.S. Secret Service Thursday announced arrests in eight states and six foreign countries of 28 suspected cybercrime gangsters on charges of identity theft, computer fraud, credit card fraud, and conspiracy. . . . The U.S. Secret Service Thursday announced arrests in eight states and six foreign countries of 28 suspected cybercrime gangsters on charges of identity theft, computer fraud, credit card fraud, and conspiracy.
Dubbed "Operation Firewall," the investigation was led by the Secret Service, and involved both local and federal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and counterparts in Bulgaria, Belarus, Poland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Ukraine.
The 28 suspects were believed to have trafficked in at least 1.7 million stolen credit card numbers, with losses to financial institutions pegged at over $4.3 million. But it could have been worse. Estimates of potential damages if the gangs hadn't been broken up range into the hundreds of millions, the agency said.