December 03, 2009
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News: Scotland Yard Seizes Retail Websites
After a long investigation into alleged online credit card security vulnerabilities, Scotland Yard has shut down over 1,200 websites operating under the codename Operation Papworth. Credit card and identity thieves based out of Asia operated the fraudulent websites that were designed to resemble authentic UK merchants. The operation was allegedly connected to an organization named Nominet that is registered with a .co.uk web address. The site claimed to offer brand name clothing and accessories at lower prices, but in actuality either shipped counterfeit goods or nothing at all while still charging the customer's credit card accounts.
The Metropolitan Police's Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU), is responsible for uncovering the fraudulent activities that appealed to customers searching for such designer goods as the trendy Ugg boots and jewelry by Tiffany & Co. According to Detective Charlie McMurdie, Head of PCeU, this is the time of year that criminals prey on credit card customers who are interested in purchasing designer goods at discount prices. McMurdie stated that "The risk begins when your desire to purchase blinds your judgment or leads you to illegal websites. If it looks too good to be true, it probably is." The criminals also used the stolen credit card information to rack up other fraudulent charges as well.
To date, the only action taken has been the shutdown of the web sites and not arrests have been made in connection to the credit card theft. Legitimate retailers have expressed their concern that shutting down the web sites is a short-term solution and doesn't address a permanent resolution to the problem. Experts are warning consumers that they should not become complacent in thinking that the problem has been fixed. It is possible that some of these sites could be back in business as early as tomorrow. Although the police have seized the URLS, there is nothing stopping these criminals from reproducing the site to another address. It is estimated that nearly 60 percent of the search results for most products on Google could be fake businesses.