For hackers in search of information like credit card numbers and software to spy on computers, the site called Carder Profit appeared to be a veritable eBay for thieves. Eleven people were arrested in the United States, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office said. On Tuesday, after a two-year undercover operation, authorities in 13 countries arrested two dozen people who are accused of fraud involving computer crime. The probe prevented $205 million in possible losses on over 411,000 compromised consumer credit and debit cards, U.S. authorities in New York said. Another, Mir Islam, known as JoshTheGod, sold stolen credit card information and had data on 50,000 credit card accounts, according to the United States attorney for the Southern District. “The coordinated law enforcement actions taken by an unprecedented number of countries around the world today demonstrate that hackers and fraudsters cannot count on being able to prowl the Internet in anonymity and with impunity, even across national boundaries,” said Preet Bharara, United States attorney for the Southern District of New York. The FBI operation centered around a "carding forum" that it had secretly created in June 2010, and was in charge of running unbeknownst to its participants, authorities said. Search warrants and interviews were obtained in Australia, Canada, Macedonia and Denmark.
– Federal agents have been watching websites where hackers illegally distribute credit card data—and their work has paid off. Today, they arrested 11 people in the US and 13 overseas, reports Reuters. Under the two-year sting, agents set up a fake online forum of their own where people could trade stolen account numbers. The arrest foiled about $200 million in bogus purchases involving more than 400,000 compromised cards, authorities say. All of the suspects are males between the ages of 18 to 25, which might have been apparent by screen names like “JoshTheGod" and “IwearaMAGNUM.” Some of those charged face 40 years in prison if convicted. Their arrests will cause a "significant disruption to the underground economy," an FBI spokeswoman tells the New York Times.