September 3, 2009
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News: Five Indicted In Elaborate CC Theft Scheme
Manhattan's District Attorney, Robert M. Morgenthau, announced the identification of five foreigners connected to an international credit card and identity theft cyber ring known as the Western Express Cybercrime Group. The case which dates back to November 2007 and involves the theft of over 95,000 credit card numbers and over $4 million. The five men bring the total number of defendants to 17 facing over 173 criminal charges. The criminals accessed the credit card information through illegal activities on the internet and then used them to sell goods on eBay. These latest indictments are a result of a four year investigation involving the joint efforts of law enforcement agencies in the U.S., the Czech Republic, Greece and Ukraine.
The latest five to be indicted were Viatcheslav Vasilyev, Vladimir Kramarenko, Egor Shevelev, Dzimitry Burak and Oleg Kovelin. The credit card thieves have been charged with enterprise corruption and multiple other lesser charges; and are facing up to 25 years in prison. Vasilyev and Kramarenko were arrested in 2008 while at their homes in Prague and have been extradited to the U.S. awaiting arraignment. Shevelev was also arrested last year in Greece and is awaiting extradition. The remaining two alleged credit card thieves, Burak a citizen of Belarus, and Kovelin a citizen of Moldova, remain at large. Authorities continue to pursue their apprehension.
In the elaborate scheme, Vasilyev and Kramarenko enlisted others to falsely advertise various electronic items. Upon sale, Vasilyev and Kramarenko would use the stolen credit cards to purchase the item from retailers to be shipped to the buyer. The criminals were successful in hiding their identities by using digital currencies including e-gold and Webmoney. Prosecutors also indicted Western Express International Inc. in Manhattan, who allegedly assisted the criminals in moving the money. Under a website named Dumpsmarket, Burak and Shevelev sold the stolen card information. Kovelin hacked into online financial records to access stolen card information as well as conducted an email scam to lure individuals into disclosing personal information.