Chinese immigrants busted in $2M credit fraud scheme

By Rich Calder
December 10, 2013 | 4:38pm




The feds on Tuesday busted 23 Chinese immigrants living in Queens, charging them in a massive $2 million credit card scheme that included stealing more than 1,000 account numbers.

The crew allegedly stole credit and debit card numbers to create counterfeit cards, and then utilized teams of “shoppers” to make unauthorized purchases at retail stores throughout the country, the indictment says.


“As alleged, the defendants used classic cyber-crime techniques of computer intrusions and accessing carding websites to obtain account numbers and then rake in millions of dollars through shopping sprees funded by counterfeit credit cards created with the stolen personal account numbers,” Manhattan US Attorney Preet Bharara said.


The scheme had been ongoing since June, and the defendants and co-conspirators obtained the stolen credit-card data to make, or attempt to make, more than $2 million in unauthorized purchases, the indictment says.


Other members of the alleged conspiracy acted as “drivers,” who took teams of “shoppers” to retail stores in Texas, North Carolina, New Jersey and other parts of the United States, according to the indictment.


The “shoppers” were given dozens of counterfeit credit and debit cards to make tens of thousands of dollars in purchases, including gift cards, electronics, cosmetics, and clothing. To convert these items to cash, the defendants moved the goods to New York and California, where they were sold to co-conspirators who, in turn, sold the items for refunds, according to the indictment.


Secret Service and Drug Enforcement Administration agents arrested 19 of the defendants early Tuesday, and the defendants were expected to be arraigned before a magistrate judge in Manhattan federal court later Tuesday.

Another defendant was arrested in California on Tuesday and was expected to be arraigned by a judge there.


http://nypost.com/2013/12/10/chinese...-fraud-scheme/