Nineteen founder/operators of what the U.S. Justice Department calls one of the largest illegal online centers for identity theft and hacking have been indicted as part of a Federal crackdown on Internet crime.
A federal grand jury in New Jersey handed down a 62-count indictment against the members of Shadowcrew.com, charging the 19 leaders in the U.S. and several foreign countries of trafficking stolen identity information, credit card numbers, and debit card numbers, as part of a Web site operation said to include over 4,000 members.
“Identity theft carries a heavy price, both in the damage to individuals whose identities are stolen and the enormous cost to America's businesses,” Attorney General Ashcroft said announcing the indictments late this week. “This indictment strikes at the heart of an organization that is alleged to have served as a one-stop marketplace for identity theft. The Department of Justice is committed to taking on those who deal in identity theft or fraud, whether they act online or off.”
Andrew Mantovani of Arizona, David Appleyard of New Jersey, and Anatoly Tyukanov of Russia, were indicted as Shadowcrew's administrators charged with conspiring and controlling the group's direction, and choosing persons to act as moderators and masters/operators of the alleged schemes. Other indicted members include Jeremy Stephens of North Carolina, Brandon Monchamp of Arizona, Omar Dhanani of California, and Marcel del Mazo of Argentina, serving as site moderators and controlling the posting of stolen information.
The Justice Department said Shadowcrew's mission was hacking into and disseminating stolen credit, debit, and other bank information, as well as counterfeit documents like drivers' licenses, passports, Social Security cards, and other identity theft sources.
“Identity theft by organized groups like Shadowcrew is a particularly insidious crime,” said Assistant Attorney General Christopher Wray, who joined Ashcroft. “Victims have their identities stolen and their credit ratings ruined. Identity theft defrauds banks and businesses of millions of dollars every year, endangering economic security and undermining consumer confidence. As today’s indictment and the recent arrests in the Shadowcrew case demonstrate, the Department will use every available law enforcement tool to protect victims from this kind of criminal activity and to seek punishment for those responsible, wherever they are.”
Ashcroft and Wray said the indictment followed a seven-year probe by the Secret Service, the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey, and the Justice Department's Computer Crime section of the Criminal Division. Twenty-one other individuals in the U.S. were arrested earlier this week on similar complaints, Ashcroft and Wray said, while several others were arrested in other countries including, reportedly, Belarus, sometimes seen as one of Europe's most hacker-populated countries.
Justice accuses Shadowcrew administrators, moderators, vendors, and others conspired to give stolen credit information and identity papers through the site's marketplace, involving a reputed 1.7 million stolen credit card numbers and potential total losses over $4 million.
“These individuals operated a virtual trading post for stolen identity and financial information,” U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said at the indictment announcement. “They were international in their reach and we are pleased to say they are out of business. We look forward to hunting down and prosecuting more operators like them to spare consumers the nightmare of identify theft.”
The alleged co-conspirators are looking at possible prison terms of between three and fifteen years apiece if convicted.
