May 12, 2009
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New York Busts Major CC Theft Operation, Pt.1
Plastic Pipe Line Operation.A major international credit card and identity theft ring has been busted by the New York Police Department (NYPD). The criminals based their operations in the New York metropolitan area; however, its roots are believed to be in Nigeria. In the highly sophisticated scam, the credit histories of over 6000 U.S. and Canadian consumers have been damaged leaving them to clean up the mess. Additionally, the criminals swindled an estimated $15 million in fraudulent credit card charges from some of the world’s most prominent banks including Citibank, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, HSBC, Canadian’s President’s Choice Bank, CIBC, MBNA Canada, and Bank of Montreal. Acting on a tip by a Queens Realtor, the investigation which has been dubbed “Operation Plastic Pipe Line” began in September 2007 when the New York’s Police Department’s Identify Theft Squad partnered with the District Attorney’s Economic Crimes Bureau to investigate the suspected credit card fraud.
According to the realtor, he inadvertently opened a package addressed to one of his employees and discovered 60 different consumers’ credit cards. The cards were designated as reissue cards because of forthcoming card expirations. The cards were eventually traced to consumers across the world. The realtor then notified law officials which began the two year investigation. The Plastic Pipe Line Operation which took place between April 18, 2008, and April 23, 2009, lead to the indictment of 45 individuals. The operation began with the investigation into a massive theft of Citibank credit cards and traced them to the eventual use in several counties including Queens.
The investigation into the credit card fraud was just as sophisticated as the theft ring itself. It involved a multidimensional layer of investigative techniques including physical surveillance, intelligence gathering, court-authorized electronic phone taps, and interception of thousands of emails. Much of the information required the assistance of professionals to translate Yoruba, and Pidgin English to English. Yoruba is a West African dialect and native tongue of nearly 28 million Yoruba people. Pidgin English is a simplified language devised to allow groups who do not have a language in common to communicate.