Romania, U.S. Authorities Nail 38 In Phishing Scheme

Thirty-eight people in the U.S. and Romania have been charged in two indictments alleging they used Internet phishing schemes to defraud thousands of individual victims and hundreds of financial institutions, U.S. Deputy Attorney General Mark Filip said in a statement Monday.

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He said the damages are estimated at several million American dollars.

The Romanian authorities were acting on seven search warrants in the cities of Bucharest, Craiova, Caracal and Buzau, while U.S. authorities executed nine arrest warrants in connection with the racketeering indictment in Los Angeles on Monday, Filip said.

The people charged, including the leaders of the global crime ring Seung Wook Lee and Hiep Thanh Tran, operated from locations in the United States and abroad, including Romania, Canada, Pakistan and Portugal.

Seung Wook Lee and Hiep Thanh Tran allegedly used data provided by their accomplices in Romania to create fake cards and steal money from the unaware victims, the Romanian Public Ministry said in a statement.

Usually, they would share the profits equally with their accomplices in Romania, the ministry said.

On May 15, Seuong Wook Lee pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles to racketeering conspiracy, bank fraud, access device fraud and unauthorized access of a protected computer.

The practice known as phishing typically involves sending fraudulent e-mails that include links directing recipients to fake Web sites where they are asked to input sensitive data, such as names, addresses, bank account numbers, credit card numbers and Social Security numbers.

The counterfeit e-mail messages are usually made to appear as if they originated from legitimate banks, financial institutions or other companies.

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