Feds Bust Web Ring Dealing 1.5 million Stolen Credit Card Numbers

An important win in the fight against identity theft
was scored last week against what federal
investigators claimed was one of the largest on line
centers for trafficking in stolen identity information
and credit cards.

The website now shut down, known as the Shadow Crew,
dealt with at least 1.5 million stolen credit card
numbers and caused more than $4 million in losses
according to federal prosecutors involved with the
case as recently reported by the Arizona Republic.

At least 19 of the 4,000 members of the Shadow Crew
web site, have been indicted on charges related to
illegally obtaining credit and bank card information
which were used to buy goods on the Internet. A
portion of that 19 have already pleaded guilty or are
fugitives at large.

So, today's tip is to be wary of any unsolicited,
"urgent" emails from your financial institution
requesting confirmation of your personal information
such as account and social security numbers along with
your date of birth or physical address.

It's a trick to get you to divulge your confidential
information to be used for identity theft.

Protect yourself from this fraud.

Instead, don't click on the email - delete it and call
your financial institution on the phone to verify if
there's been any security breaches involving your
account.