Federal Authorities indicted three men in New Jersey in a massive identity theft case that the Justice Department is labeling as the largest in American history.
Truth of the matter is that only one body is actually in custody. The other two that were indicted are Russians, whereabouts unknown. Albert Gonzalez of Miami, age 28, also known as the "SoupNazi" online (must have been a Seinfeld fan) if convicted, could face up to 20 years on a charge of wire-fraud conspiracy and an additional five on the conspiracy charge. He also faces fines of up to $250,000 for each charge.
The Department of Justice calls this "the single largest hacking and identity theft case ever prosecuted." There were about 130 million credit and debit card numbers stolen. I was one of the victims back in January.
The three culprits, hacked into and took the card numbers from Heartland Payment Systems; 7-Eleven Inc., a Texas-based convenience store chain and Hannaford Brothers Company, a Maine-based supermarket chain.
This is not Mr. Gonzalez' first crime either. in May 2008, the U.S. Attorney's Office of New York charged him for his alleged role in the hacking of a computer network run by a national restaurant chain. He is slated to stand trial on those charges in September of 2009.
In August of 2008, he was indicted on additional charges for a number of hacks into eight major retailers including discount giant TJ Maxx that involved an estimated 40 million credit cards and cost TJ Maxx $200 million. He is scheduled for trial on those charges in 2010, the Department of Justice said.
Gonzalez, if convicted, will undoubtedly be spending a long time in Federal Prison after all the trials, that is unless he can prove that it was not him. Maybe somebody stole his identity to do the crime.
Either way, with the money he must have been paid for his work, I don't understand why he is still in the US and not abroad with the Russians avoiding extradiction.
After research, I found the following video with Albert Gonzalez and it could actually be his Attorney's best defense for him, click here to watch.
To learn more about Identity Theft and what to do if you are a victim, visit www.StopIdTheftCrime.com and subscribe to the newsletter to obtain your free 46 page eBook "Fighting Back Against Identity Theft".
Remember, estimates are that every 2-4 seconds an Identity is compromised. Why take chances? Why not protect yourself and your loved ones with the best suite of services provided (including restoration) by the best NYSE company in the field? Educate yourself and visit the shameless plug below or call me at (909) 208-3728!
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Monday, August 17, 2009
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