August 23, 2010
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News: Canadians Team With Secret Service To Make Big Bust
A large debit and credit card fraud ring has met its match as the U.S. Secret Service and the Canadian authorities brought their operations to a screeching halt. The ring hacked into a Calgary based credit and financial service firm, stealing nearly $2 million from fraudulent credit card transactions. Authorities busted the hackers after a nine month investigation combining the efforts of the U.S. Secret Service and Canadian authorities learned that hackers had infiltrated the computer system of the financial company and stolen numerous credit card numbers. Teaming up in the investigation were the U.S. Secret Service, the Calgary Municipal Police, Vancouver Municipal Police, and the Montreal Municipal Police. Calgary police have not released the name of the financial company but did confirm it is a national company that offers prepaid debit cards.
The thieves hacked into the company's computer system and changed the value of the debit and credit cards. They then used the debit cards to withdraw cash from Automatic Teller Machines (ATM) throughout Canada and the U.S. The investigation began when the U.S. Secret Service and the Vancouver Police were working on another case which led them to suspect the Calgary hackers. Vancouver Police notified the Calgary authorities who continued the investigation. The scope of the debit and credit card theft made it difficult for the authorities to track the ring down; however, teamwork and good communication brought the positive results.
Arrested were Ehud Tenenbaum, an Israeli national; Priscilla Mastrangelo; Jean Francois Ralph; and, Spyros Xenoulis. Tenenbaum is suspected of being the online hacker of the Pentagon computers in 1998 known as "the Analyzer." All four of the suspects were living in Montreal where authorities raided their living quarters and seized computers and business records. All have been charged with a number of fraudulent activities including credit card data theft and fraud over $5,000. It has not yet been determined how many victims are involved; however, the U.S. Secret Service will continue to investigate to learn how extensive the theft is.