Albert Gonzalez, the hacker who pleaded guilty to leading one of the largest cases of credit card theft in the U.S., is asking a judge to toss out the pleas, arguing that they were part of his assignments as a paid government informant.. "I still believe that I was acting on behalf of the United States Secret Service and that I was authorized and directed to engage in the conduct I committed as part of my assignment to gather intelligence and seek out international cybercriminals," Gonzalez wrote in a 25-page petition filed March 24 with the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts and published on the Threat Level blog. "I now know and understand that I have been used as a scapegoat to cover someone's mistakes." "All of this inflated my ego and made me feel very important and made me feel like I was really a part of the Secret Service with the backing and support of the government agency," Gonzalez wrote. "One day I was unknown and nothing and the next day I am being hailed as a genius and giving presentations to Secret Service agents in Washington, D.C. All of this was mind-boggling for me." The link for this article located at CNET is no longer available. . 'I still believe that I was acting on behalf of the United States Secret Service and that I was auth. albert, gonzalez, hacker, pleaded, guilty, leading, largest, cases, credit. . Anthony Pell
A Russian man accused of selling stolen credit card numbers online for nearly a decade has been arrested in Nice, France, and faces charges in an indictment unsealed Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Justice said.. Vladislav Anatolievich Horohorin, 27, of Moscow was arrested by French authorities on Saturday as he attempted to board a flight to Moscow, the DOJ said. Horohorin, who called himself BadB online, advertised himself as one of the largest sellers of stolen credit and debit cards worldwide, the DOJ said in a grand jury indictment issued in November. Horohorin, in an April 2009 advertisement of his services, said he had been selling "dumps" -- compromised credit and debit card numbers -- through websites such as the now-closed Cardplanet.com for about eight years. The link for this article located at Network World is no longer available. . A Russian national named Viktor Smirnov was apprehended in Cannes for trafficking in illicitly obtained debit card information on the internet for almost ten years.. Credit Card Fraud, Cybercrime, Data Breach, Fraudulent Transactions. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
Thirty-eight defendants from across the United States have been charged with participating in a multimillion-dollar black market travel agent ring that used the stolen identities of thousands of victims to purchase airline tickets for customers.. "What began as a local law enforcement investigation ultimately exposed an extensive nationwide black market for airline tickets," said Beth Phillips, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Missouri. "Six federal indictments allege that 38 defendants used stolen credit and debit card information from thousands of identity theft victims to purchase tickets, which they sold to their customers at a steep discount," Phillips explained. "These separate criminal conspiracies resulted in an estimated total loss of more than $20 million to numerous domestic airline companies, financial institutions, other merchants, and cardholders." Conspirators used several strategies to obtain the credit and debit card information of identity theft victims, according to the federal indictments. In some cases, conspirators allegedly purchased stolen information from unindicted co-conspirators in Bangladesh, Vietnam, and elsewhere. Some of the defendants allegedly stole customer information at hotels, a bank, and a customer call center where defendants were employed. The link for this article located at Dark Reading is no longer available. . A federal grand jury has charged 38 individuals in a scheme exploiting stolen identities for a multimillion-dollar travel fraud operation, revealing serious concerns in the industry. Black Market, Airline Fraud, Identity Theft, Credit Card Fraud, Legal Indictments. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
When 65 percent of your sales are online, credit card fraud can put you out of business. Companies are fighting back with tough security measures, policies, and new products. . . .. When 65 percent of your sales are online, credit card fraud can put you out of business. Companies are fighting back with tough security measures, policies, and new products. At least once a day, solution provider CompSource finds itself the target of a ripoff artist. In fact, Dean Bellone, founder and CEO of the $12 million, 13-year-old Cleveland-based company, has been targeted so many times he now considers himself a fraud expert. The way Bellone sees it, if, like CompSource, you do about 65 percent of your sales over the Internet and you want to stay in business, you'd better learn how to outfox the bad guys. "If every one of those hit, we wouldn't be here," he said. "A lot of companies hit by these scams end up dying off. It's very discouraging." What's also troubling to Bellone and other solution providers is the sharp spike in credit card fraud and Internet scams they've seen in the past year. A CRN Online Quick Poll last week found that 82 percent of all solution providers surveyed are seeing an increase in credit card scams and Internet fraud. What's more, 49 percent said these practices are up more than 100 percent in the past year. Solution providers are fighting back with tough security measures and new policies for their sales reps, including refusing to ship out of state or out of the country. They're also turning to a new class of vendors that offer identity verification products and services. The link for this article located at securitypipeline.com is no longer available. . Businesses are adopting stringent protective protocols to tackle the increasing prevalence of digital payment fraud that is undermining their revenue.. Credit Card Fraud, Online Sales, Ecommerce Tips. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
Identity theft skyrocketed 81% in 2002, a statistic so shocking that it seemed unreal -- until it happened to my sister. Last weekend, she had her wallet pinched. Within six hours, the thieves, clearly professionals, had charged $5,000 to each of . . . . Identity theft skyrocketed 81% in 2002, a statistic so shocking that it seemed unreal -- until it happened to my sister. Last weekend, she had her wallet pinched. Within six hours, the thieves, clearly professionals, had charged $5,000 to each of her credit cards and wiped out much of her bank account by using her debit card to "purchase" limousine services from a nonexistent company. Worse, the thieves also obtained her Social Security number, which was printed on her health-insurance member card. The link for this article located at BW Online is no longer available. . Fraudulent identity cases skyrocketed by 81% in 2002, featuring alarming accounts of swift monetary devastation following the theft of personal wallets.. Identity Theft, Financial Security, Fraud Protection, Personal Data Safety. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
The hacker who breached a security system to get into credit card information had access to about 5.6 million Visa and Mastercard accounts, far more than originally announced, the two card associations told CNN Tuesday. Monday, Visa and Mastercard said . . . . The hacker who breached a security system to get into credit card information had access to about 5.6 million Visa and Mastercard accounts, far more than originally announced, the two card associations told CNN Tuesday. Monday, Visa and Mastercard said the hacker could look at as many as 2.2 million accounts after breaching the security system of a company that processes credit card transactions on behalf of merchants. None of the original set of compromised Visa cards had been used fraudulently, Visa spokesman John Abrams said Monday. A Mastercard spokeswoman could not say whether any of their cards had been used fraudulently. The link for this article located at CNN.com is no longer available. . An unauthorized entity compromised 5.6 million debit cards, severely affecting both Amex and Discover accounts.. Data Breach, Credit Card Security, Cyber Attack, Financial Fraud. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
Every year millions of dollars are lost to credit card fraud. Just who is supposed to be held responsible for all this stuff? The online shopping sites, the end user or your over friendly neighbour? In this article, I shall talk about the detailed anatomy of a credit card, the loop holes of some of the online shopping sites and a few other details.. . .. Every year millions of dollars are lost to credit card fraud. Just who is supposed to be held responsible for all this stuff? The online shopping sites, the end user or your over friendly neighbour? In this article, I shall talk about the detailed anatomy of a credit card, the loop holes of some of the online shopping sites and a few other details. I will try to show you, the honest citizen, the Internet world through the eyes of a cracker. Believe me, some of the facts here can give sleepless nights to anyone who loves his/her hard earned money. Card number generating software such as CMaster4 are able to generate fake real-looking numbers. Even today, there are sites which process transactions only by checking the validity credit card number itself (not qwhether the number exists or not). Hard to believe, but 2-3 years ago, Mail.com used to only check for the credit card number and if it was found to be correct, the user would have access to platinum account with increased webspace. My research showed that only after a day would mail.com send you a reply back saying the details that you have entered are invalid... but by that time a malicious user has already used the paid service for free. During the recent french open event, rolandgarros.com had opened a merchandise site for selling items related to the event. The site used SSL but it did not bother to check the credit card number of the customer, only a small javascript was introduced in the web page for validating the card. The link for this article located at Linux.com is no longer available. . Each year, many people suffer from scams and financial fraud. It's vital to understandwho is responsible and how to best protect your finances. Credit Card Safety, Cyber Threats, Secure Payments, Online Shopping Security. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
A computer hacker is lurking in cyberspace, targeting Visa credit- and debit-card holders. Until Wednesday, Richard Sieberg had owned a Visa card for three years without any security problems. 'Gardiner Savings Institution called me and said that my Visa had been . . . . A computer hacker is lurking in cyberspace, targeting Visa credit- and debit-card holders. Until Wednesday, Richard Sieberg had owned a Visa card for three years without any security problems. 'Gardiner Savings Institution called me and said that my Visa had been hacked into,' Sieberg said. 'They said no money had been stolen, but I should close out the account and reopen another with a different number.' Sieberg, a full-time firefighter in Gardiner, will now wait two weeks until he receives a new card. Details about the fraud are sketchy. Visa USA would release only this statement recently regarding the security compromise: 'As a result of a potential compromise of cardholder data stored on a processor server, Visa began immediately contacting some of its member institutions to notify them of the accounts possibly involved. This is being done as a precautionary measure so that these banks may take the appropriate steps to protect cardholders whose data may have been compromised. The link for this article located at Lexis-Nexis is no longer available. . A cybercriminal aims at Mastercard users, risking their information and personal safety.. Visa Security Alert, Data Breach Management, Credit Card Fraud. . LinuxSecurity.com Team
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