U.S. FTC goes after $10 M micropayment scam

READ your credit card statements – really

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has said it brought an action in U.S. Federal court that shuts down an identity theft scheme that stole more than $10 million from victims’ credit card accounts in small amounts and sent the money out of the country.

The scammers recruited 14 money mules to set up dummy corporations and open bank accounts to receive payments of $10 or less from victims’ credit card accounts. Each account was charged only once. The FTC said it did not know how the scammers obtained the victims’ credit card information.

The money mules, recruited via spam email, sent the stolen funds to bank accounts in Bulgaria, Cyprus, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Kyrgyzstan.

The dummy corporations charged with credit card fraud were:
-- API Trade LLC,
-- ARA Auto Parts Trading LLC,
-- Bend Transfer Services LLC,
-- B-Texas European LLC,
-- CBTC LLC, CMG Global LLC,
-- Confident Incorporation,
-- HDPL Trade LLC,
-- Hometown Homebuyers LLC,
-- IAS Group LLC,
-- IHC Trade LLC,
-- MZ Services LLC,
-- New World Enterprizes LLC,
-- Parts Imports LLC,
-- SMI Imports LLC,
-- SVT Services LLC

The action was brought in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.

FTC release here: "FTC Obtains Court Order Halting International Scheme Responsible For More Than $10 Million In Unauthorized Charges On Consumers' Credit and Debit Cards"

Tom Kelchner