Date: 18 Apr 92 19:34:30 EDT
From: Net Wrider <
[email protected]>
Subject: File 8--Those Evil Hackers (San Jose Busts AP Reprint)
Just FYI, here's more hyperbole from the Associated Press, this time
courtesy of the local cops in San Diego and the ignorance of the
San Diego Times-Union:
=====================================================================
R,A,7 - AM-COMPUTERHACKERS, 04-17 0481 -
AM-Computer Hackers,0448
Police Uncover Nationwide Fraud Ring Of Computer Hackers
SAN DIEGO (AP) _ Authorities say they've cracked a nationwide
electronic network of young computer hackers who were able to make
fraudulent credit card purchases and break into confidential credit
rating files.
"These kids can get any information they want on you _ period," San
Diego police Detective Dennis Sadler said. "We didn't believe it until
it was demonstrated to us."
The investigation has led to two arrests in Ohio and seizures of
computers and related material in New York City, the Philadelphia area
and Seattle, Sadler said. But those cases are just an offshoot of the
main investigation, he said.
He refused to discuss details, saying an investigation is continuing
and scores of arrests are pending nationwide.
Members of the informal underground network know how to break computer
security codes, make charges on other people's cards and create credit
card accounts, said Sadler.
"There's one kid who bragged about using the same credit card number
for eight months," he said.
As many as 1,000 hackers nationwide have shared such information for
at least four years. Sadler estimated that illegal credit card charges
could total millions of dollars.
Fraudulent credit card charges typically are made by computer
criminals who illegally gather detailed information from computerized
accounts on file at credit reporting agencies, banks and other
businesses.
The hackers also have learned how to break personal security codes for
automatic teller machines, Sadler said, and can obtain telephone
access codes to make long-distance calls without paying.
A crucial break in the case occurred in late March when an
out-of-state hacker was picked up in San Diego and agreed to cooperate
with local police and the FBI, Sadler told The San Diego Union-Tribune
in a story published Friday.
At least part of the investigation is focusing on information that
hackers obtained illegally from computers at Equifax Credit
Information Services, an Atlanta-based credit reporting agency that
provides information to lenders.
"We're still in the process of investigating, and we're working very
closely with San Diego police," company spokeswoman Tina Black said.
Equifax, one of the nation's three largest credit bureaus, has a
database of about 170 million credit files.
The company suffered no financial losses itself and is notifying the
few consumers whose accounts were compromised, Black said.
MasterCard International reported $381 million in losses from credit
card fraud worldwide in 1991, said Warner Brown, MasterCard's director
of security and fraud control.
Visa International's losses amounted to $259 million in 1989, about
one-tenth of 1 percent of Visa's worldwide sales volumes, spokesman
Gregory Holmes said.
Downloaded From P-80 International Information Systems 304-744-2253
