US authorities prosecute largest-ever identity theft case

by Gill Montia

Story link: US authorities prosecute largest-ever identity theft case

Three men have been charged in connection with an identity theft case that is the biggest yet to be prosecuted by US authorities.

The defendants allegedly stole over 134 million credit card and debit card numbers by infiltrating the IT systems of five companies including 7-Eleven, Heartland Payment Systems and Hannaford Brod Company.

Alberto Gonzalez of Miami is alleged to have worked with unnamed co-conspirators in Eastern Europe or Russia to steal customer details, the bulk of which came from Heartland Payment Systems, a card payments firm based in New Jersey.

According to reports, malware and injection strings were used to attack computers, launched from and servers located worldwide.

In August of last year, US prosecutors charged 11 people in connection with the theft of credit-card details in what was at the time the country’s largest-ever identity theft case.

In an earlier international conspiracy, over 40 million credit and debit card numbers were stolen as hackers accessed account details and passwords from major US retailers.