More than 100 arrested in U.S.-Romanian joint probe on Internet fraud scheme

More than 100 arrested in U.S.-Romanian joint probe on Internetfraud scheme

WASHINGTON, July 15 (Xinhua) -- More than 100 individuals havebeen arrested and charged as a result of joint actions coordinatedsince 2010 between the U.S. and Romanian law enforcementauthorities, which have disrupted an Internet fraud scheme conductedby organized cyber criminals, the U.S. Justice Department saidFriday.

In the latest action, Romanian law enforcement conducted 117searches in nine cities on Thursday, targeting the individualsallegedly involved in the fraud scheme, the Justice Department saidin a statement.

According to U.S. court documents, the Romanian suspectscollaborated with conspirators in the U.S. to cheat online customersout of money by pretending to sell cars, motorcycles and boats onInternet auction and online websites.

They would instruct the victims who wanted to buy the items towire transfer the purchase money to a fictitious name they claimedto be an employee of an escrow company. Once the victims wired thefunds, the Romanian suspects would inform the co-conspirators in theU.S., known as "arrows," to retrieve the wired funds.

The "arrows" in the U.S. would go to money transmitter servicecounters, such as Western Union or MoneyGram International, toobtain the funds by providing false ID documents in the name of therecipient of the wire transfer. Then they would wire the fundsoverseas, typically to individuals in Romania, minus a percentagekept for their commissions. The victims would not receive the itemsthey believed they were purchasing.

It was estimated that the Internet fraud scheme has resulted in aloss of more than 10 million U.S. dollars from victims, includingthose in the U.S., where 21 people have been charged for beinginvolved in the scheme.

The probe was jointly conducted between the Romanian lawenforcement authorities, including Romanian police and the RomanianIntelligence Service, and the FBI, U.S. Secret Service, JusticeDepartment, and the U.S. attorney's offices in several districts inthe states of Florida, Pennsylvania and Missouri, Texas andKentucky.

Over the last 10 years, U.S. law enforcement authorities havestrengthened ties with Romanian law enforcement authorities toaddress the rising threats posed by Romanian-based organized cybercriminal networks, according to the Justice Department.