Romanian gang arrested in Australia's biggest-ever credit card ID theft

[ShyWriter]

.Romanian gang arrested in Australia's biggest-ever credit card ID theft

An Australian Parliamentary committee is looking at potential reforms of national security legislation to battle cyber crime.

By Anjani Trivedi, for CNN

November 29, 2012 -- Updated 0818 GMT (1618 HKT)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• "Operation Lino" involved 14 countries and uncovered credit card transactions worth $31M
  
• Victims were small businesses and retailers, who often have less-secure payment gateways
  
• 65% of bank card fraud cases reported in Australia in 2011 were perpetrated overseas
  
• Gheorghe "the Carpathian Bear" Ignat, a Greco-Roman heavyweight wrestler also detained
  

Hong Kong (CNN) -- Australian police say seven people have been arrested in Romania as part of a joint international criminal investigation into the largest credit card data theft in Australia's history.

Among those detained by the Romanian investigative agency was Gheorghe "the Carpathian Bear" Ignat, a Greco-Roman heavyweight wrestling champion.

Officials say the year-long investigation, dubbed "Operation Lino," involved 14 countries and uncovered phony credit card transactions worth AUD30 million (US$31 million). The criminal syndicate had access to half a million Australian credit cards, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) stated in a press release.

Read the complete article at:

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/29/business/australia-credit-card-fraud/index.html

Steve

[Firefox]

I like stories like this, I recently had one of my cards cloned somehow, but my CC company caught it right away and canceled the card, and issued me a new one with a new number. They are investigating and so far they have isolated it to a gas station while I was on a trip. I think they will get lucky and find the bastards.....