Strange

41 Million+ Credit Card numbers hacked!

by Mon-Mage | August 5, 2008 at 05:25 pm

2107 views | 28 Recommendations | 10 comments

Eleven people including an informant of the Secret Service have been charged for stealing more than 41 million credit and debit card numbers. These people have also been charged with identity theft for the act. It is the largest hacking & identity theft case ever in the US.

BOSTON - Eleven people, including a U.S. Secret Service informant, have been charged in connection with the hacking of nine major retailers and the theft and sale of more than 41 million credit and debit card numbers, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.

The data breach is believed to be the largest hacking and identity theft case ever prosecuted by the Department of Justice, which said the suspects were charged with conspiracy, computer intrusion, fraud and identity theft.

Three of those charged are U.S. citizens while the others are from places such as Estonia, Ukraine, Belarus and China.

Some of the retailers whom credit card numbers were stolen form include Sports Authority, Barnes and Noble, TJX Cos., BJ's Wholesale club, OfficeMax, Boston Market, Foever 21 and DSW.

The act of hacking these were done with rather ingenious hacking strategies and techniques, and to harvest such quantities of personal and financial information is definitely a first.

The amount of money that has been stolen has been called 'impossible to quantify' but assuming a minimum 5000 dollar credit line, this heist could well have been worth more than 200 Billion dollars.

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jordan

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 07:19 on August 6th, 2008

Mon-Mage, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Niki3

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 08:35 on August 6th, 2008

Mon-Mage, I like this story. It's good stuff.

What's NOT good stuff is the fact that identity theft is becoming more and more common. I was actually victim to it a few weeks ago when I discovered two withdrawls had been made from my debit card on the other side of the country... It's really scary to think that no matter how many precautions you take, if you are going to use your debit/credit card, there is a chance this information will land in the wrong hands.

René

at 09:07 on August 6th, 2008

Oh, and then there's the guys, including one on NP, who warned everyone NOT to check their back accounts online for the next month or two! I'm checking mine now!

René

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 09:09 on August 6th, 2008

Did they indicate over what time period any of this happened?

Niki3

at 09:20 on August 6th, 2008

Yes René, I believe they said they had accumulated the cards and information over the last five years.

BigT

flagged this story as Good Stuff

at 09:20 on August 6th, 2008

Mon-Mage, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Scary stuff.

Darien Durr

at 13:03 on August 6th, 2008

I personally have been a victim over identity theft. Not recently though. I did catch up on the 41million + credit card numbers that have been hacked. I think that the credit card companies should start thinking about having some ways of identifying individuals when using there card over the phone and over the internet as well. In person, a simple photo should suffice. I hope you all enjoy the picture made.

Darien Durr has contributed a photo to this story.