Websites Closed Over Payment Cards Scams

                  Computer fraud has increased in recent years as more people do business online

Thirty-six websites selling hacked payment card and bank details believed to be worth tens of millions of pounds have been closed down.

The move by the Serious Organised Crime Agency and the FBI is part of a day of joint action targeting cybercrime.
Officers also raided addresses in Birmingham and London and arrested two people suspected of purchasing large quantities of data to commit identity fraud.
The websites conducted transactions using an Automated Vending Cart, an e-commerce platform that allows rapid trading in large quantities of data.
The automated payment method made the sites user-friendly for purchasers unfamiliar with trading directly with organised criminals on hacking forums.

Our activities have saved business, online retailers and financial institutions potential fraud losses estimated at more than half a billion pounds and protected thousands of individuals from the distress caused by being a victim of fraud.

Lee Miles, Soca

Although the sites were hosted in the US, the AVC transactions in the UK were tracked and monitored by a specialist team of Soca officers.
In a separate operation, the UK's Cheque & Plastic Crime Unit seized several computers suspected of being used to facilitate fraud offences.
Acting on information supplied by Soca, an AVC operator based in Macedonia was also arrested by the Macedonian Cybercrime Unit.
Data recovered from the sites has been passed to financial institutions to prevent potential fraud taking place against the accounts.
The move was a joint operation between Soca, the FBI and the US Department of Justice which targets organised cybercrime.
Visitors to the sites are now directed to a screen indicating the domain has been seized by the US government.

                                    The operation was conducted jointly by Soca and the FBI

In the past two years, Soca officers have seized 2.5 million items of stolen personal data in joint operations with other international cybercrime agencies.
The total amount of data seized in these operations is estimated to have been worth £500m to cybercriminals.
Lee Miles, Head of Cyber Operations for Soca said: "This operation is an excellent example of the level of international co-operation being focused on tackling online fraud.
"Our activities have saved business, online retailers and financial institutions potential fraud losses estimated at more than half a billion pounds and protected thousands of individuals from the distress caused by being a victim of fraud."