Operating from Romania, a very large global credit card scheme was brought to an end on March 28 thanks to the collaborating efforts of nearly two dozen law enforcement agencies from all across the globe.
The network, dubbed “Pandora Storm” by law enforcement agencies, thrived by modifying the software and hardware of select point of sale terminals throughout Europe in order to gain access to shoppers' credit card numbers and PINs. Once the information was in the hands of the criminal network, it would then be used to fund pre-paid cards in other countries in North America, South America and Asia.
It is reported that nearly 40,000 customers were affected by the global crime ring, with instances of theft being reported in 16 different European countries.
The thieves used an array of techniques in order to gain access to the systems: virtually all of the points of sale had been manipulated in some physical aspect, but there was also evidence of dangerous software being used to gain remote access to the system and allow for further manipulation. The combination made for a stealthy yet surefire way to steal the credit card information of every customer that came into contact with the POSs and ATMs.
Over eighty home searches in Romania uncovered unlawful electronic equipment used in the crimes, stolen credit card data, cash and cloned credit cards. Also discovered were several warehouses being used to manufacture the equipment used in committing the crimes.
The result of the sting has led to seventy people being detained and questioned for their potential involvement in the credit card fraud network. There are believed to still be upwards of 30 more individuals involved with the ring but that have not been apprehended as of yet. Romanian authorities have been attempting to track down the leaders of this network, who were not based in the area where the arrests were made and are believed to be a combination of several smaller fraud networks.