'Operation Cyber Sweep' Nets 125 Arrests 286
unassimilatible writes "Attorney General John Ashcroft said Thursday that law-enforcement agents had arrested 125 suspects in a crackdown on Internet crimes ranging from hacking and software piracy to credit card fraud and selling stolen goods over the Internet, according to Wired. The investigation, begun Oct. 1 and dubbed Operation Cyber Sweep, involved police from Ghana to Southern California and uncovered 125,000 victims who had lost more than $100 million. Seventy indictments to date have led to arrests or convictions of 125 people, with more expected as the probe continues. The cases range from a Virginia woman who sent fake e-mails to America Online customers asking them to update their credit card numbers to a disgruntled Philadelphia Phillies fan who hacked into computers nationwide and launched spam e-mails criticizing the baseball team. 'The information superhighway should be a conduit for communication, information and commerce, not an expressway for crime,' Ashcroft said."
Ah... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Dude (Score:3, Insightful)
Easy there, killer. I wasn't talking shit about anyone. This is for real, and the guy told *me* he was in Indonesia. I just happened to find the news ironic after being told by numerous people (who do online retaling with ebay and such) that I should be very careful about Indonesia in particular because there is a lot of credit card fraud coming from there.
This is not somthing I came up with; I just found the shit out for myself today.
So... (Score:5, Funny)
Phew! (Score:5, Funny)
This Homeland Security thing is really working!
People really still fall for 911 scams? (Score:2)
I guess so... You would think that people would be more aware of this kind of thing now.
Re:People really still fall for 911 scams? (519) (Score:4, Insightful)
Nut- they right it is 419 (Score:2, Redundant)
Re:People really still fall for 911 scams? (519) (Score:2)
Re:People really still fall for 911 scams? (Score:2)
Actually it's called... (Score:4, Informative)
911 only came into the picture after 9/11/01 when the scam morphed to use US soldiers in a foreign land in a post-911 conflict instead of a Nigerian Doctor or governmental official.
Refunds anyone? (Score:2, Funny)
Slightly offtopic here, but will those funds be repayed to the fools who were stupid enough to fall for the scam?
Or will they just spend it on military equipment, as seems to happen with all excess money ?
Just curious.
Isn't this the RIAA's job? (Score:5, Funny)
Wow, 125! (Score:3, Informative)
When you add the extra 3 million for spamming and the extra... [population of the United States] for copyright infringement, you can see they're off to a good start!
Re:Wow, 125! (Score:2)
Re:Wow, 125! (Score:3, Interesting)
And do you know the "Justice" Department will use the full "retail va
Re:Wow, 125! (Score:2)
I think that's great! SCO has surely generated more than $2500 in Linux sales; so SCO executives should be going to jail anytime now. What a relief! Thank you John Ashcroft!
As bad as he is... (Score:5, Insightful)
-Kilka
Re:As bad as he is... (Score:3, Informative)
And notice how surprising that is.
Re:As bad as he is... (Score:5, Insightful)
I know he's one of the worst people in high places, but I think this is a good thing. He's not invading peoples privacy or instituting some terrible law, he's actually helping people.
I agree. Even better: if they can publicly show that these people's rights were actually preserved, I would be very impressed.
Re:As bad as he is... (Score:3, Insightful)
Problem is, that's proving the negative, a difficult task, if not impossible. Also, given Ashcroft's record, you'll excuse me holding out a healthly, if large, amount of distrust toward any action of his. If these actions wind up being good, then so be it. In the meantime, I will expect the worst and hope for the best.
Re:As bad as he is... (Score:3, Funny)
You left out a word there. Here, I'll fix it for you:
I know he's one of the worst people in high places, but I think this is a good thing.
WHEN He's not invading peoples privacy or instituting some terrible law, he's actually helping people.
"... worst people in high places"? Hardly. (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:"... worst people in high places"? Hardly. (Score:5, Insightful)
This assumes a few things.
1 - Legions of bloodthirsty terrorists wish nothing more than to see the United States reduced to a smoking abrasion in the earth's crust.
2 - These people have decided that the best time to act on these urges would be right now, while the Bush Administration is hunting for them.
3 - These terrorists are being found, tried, and convicted in secret military courts while the president's approval ratings sink ever lower as the US population grows more and more convinced that the world isn't nearly as dangerous as Mr Ashcroft would have us think.
It also has, implicit in it, at least one conclusion that those that advance it probably won't like.
1 - Three acts of terrorism have occurred in the United States since Pres. Bush took power. (9-11, Anthrax, Sniper). Thus Bush averages 1 attack per year (3 years in office, 3 attacks). Clinton, in comparison averages 1 every 4 years (World Trade Center Bombing and Oklahoma City). By the parent post's logic Clinton did a better job of protecting against terrorism.
But let's not get into that particular quagmire. The real question is this. At what cost? Terrorism isn't the leading cause of death in this country. More people die from pretty much everything than die in terrorist attacks. Want to protect the US Citizenry? Sink that $87 Billion for Iraq into Cancer research.
Ok... lets go with Cancer though. Apparently this country is unwilling to use the stem cells from a fetus that was aborted to try to cure cancer. I can accept a religious problem with that.
So here's the (hypothetical) trade. A cure for cancer, today. The price: The government gets to tap your phone, confiscate property without due process, track your internet usage, spy on you without judicial oversight, conduct secret searches of your home, and check up on your library readings. Oh, they also get to use your car to spy on you and can detain you indefinitely in a military base with no hope of appeal or civilian trial. Is it worth it? Remember, we're talking about curing cancer here... one of the biggest killers of US citizens of any age.
Gut feeling, if you're not willing to give up the rights of a bunch of dead tissue that someone didn't want to carry to birth to cure this disease you're probably not willing to give us a bunch of your own personal rights to do the same. So why is it that what Ashcroft is doing is so great? Why is it that for the POSSIBILITY of preventing terrorism we're willing to let this man and his minions trample upon our civil liberties?
I don't have an easy answer for this question. I can tell you that people with the attitude expressed in the parent post are part of the problem, not the solution. Ben Franklin was right, "those who would trade freedom for security deserve neither."
Cripple terrorism? Plunk pool chlorine tablets into a two liter of coke and twist on the cap and you've got a chemical munition. Nothing Ashcroft does can prevent a desperate individual willing to die for his cause. We're throwing our freedoms away for the tattered remnants of a dream.
Re:"... worst people in high places"? Hardly. (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:"... worst people in high places"? Hardly. (Score:2)
Except imprisoning or deporting that individual before he can act. But I think your logic could be applied to all law enforcement efforts, ending in the conclusion that no laws should be enforced.
And what are the chance for that to happen? You really expect that a foreigner's visa will just happen to run out few days before he will get pissed off by something US government does? That a box cutter sale will be interpreted as a part of preparation to a plane hijacking? That for some magical reason the same
Re:"... worst people in high places"? Hardly. (Score:2)
Insightful! Wow. Slashdot is starting to get more and more like kuro5hin everyday. The libs are taking over another tech/geek websit
Re:As bad as he is... (Score:2)
Re:As bad as he is... (Score:3, Interesting)
Nonsense. He is selectively enforcing the laws on behalf of the corporations that paid for those laws. I am still waiting for a day when they launch an investigation in SCO's practices and book them for criminal copyright infringement. When do you think that is going to happen?
When regular people violate corporation's copyri
Re:As bad as he is... (Score:2)
Can you find a single criminal attorney in the US, either prosecutor or defender, who believes there is a solid criminal case against S
Re:As bad as he is... (Score:2)
SCO is also distributing the rest of Linux kernel and related software (that's not being in dispute) without following and honoring the GPL. Linux is copyrighted software, and SCO has zero rights to distribute it, unless they read and follow the GPL. If they cannot follow the GPL because they believe they have some claim
Re:As bad as he is... (Score:2)
TIPS FOR ARGUING FOREVERYONE (Score:4, Interesting)
(2) Learn to format your postings, please.
(3) Learn to spell.
(5) Don't assume that anyone who complains didn't vote.I voted. I complain.
(7) The Patriot Act was rushed through Congress at a time when any deviation from the President probably would have resulted in a ridiculous political backlash.
(11) Don't assume that anyone who complains is ignorant. It makes you look pompous, not intelligent.
(13) Lists are more fun if they're not based on the counting numbers!
Re:TIPS FOR ARGUING FOREVERYONE (Score:2)
Re:As bad as he is... (Score:2)
I'll freely admit that I didn't read your entire post (format-free rants are usually not worth it anyway). I would however like to respond to one point:
It is impossible for the Office of the Attorney General to enforce every law on the books. As such, the AG in office decides which laws are to be given priority enforcement. So the truth is, the AG in power becomes the final arbiter of what the law really
Re:As bad as he is... (Score:2)
Mr. Pot, meet Mr. Kettle.
True having an expired Visa is against the law. However it does not entitle the government to put in in leg irons, push you against a wall and slug you, keep you from contacting a lawyer or even your own wife and detain you for six months. The truth is the current administration cannot claim or prove that they have adverted any terrorist attacks with these tactics.
Breaking the law doesn't allow them to arrest you. And entering the countr
Re:As bad as he is... (Score:2)
Breaking the law doesn't allow them to arrest you. And entering the country illegally doesn't allow them to send you back? Actually it does. Also, you can't prove that they didn't stop any terrorist attacks, so nanny-nanny boo-boo back to you.
Send back -- yes. Imprisoning -- certainly no. What is the most interesting, detaining people before the trial (or hearing) without a bail is supposed to PREVENT THEM FROM LEAVING THE COUNTRY. If the worst that those people face is BEING DEPORTED FROM THE COUNTRY,
Re:As bad as he is... (Score:2)
Ashcroft rocks. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Ashcroft rocks. (Score:2)
Perhaps Ashcroft could anoint you with cooking oil or some monitor cleaning fluid. Or at least give you a blast in the forehead with one of those duster cans. Although you might want to close your eyes before being blasted.
"Ahhhh, my eyes! I'm blind," you scream.
"Blinded by the rapture o
Re:Ashcroft rocks. (Score:2)
Software Piracy (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Software Piracy (Score:2)
Re:Software Piracy and Mandrake (Score:2)
Re:Software Piracy and Mandrake (Score:2)
Re:Software Piracy and Mandrake (Score:2)
Heh. Don't you do this every time you access a web page? I mean, all written material is copyrighted by default unless it's explicitly placed into the public domain.
This reminds me of the story of the student who was facing disciplinary action for playing Nethack, because the adminstration thought that it had something to do with breaking into comptuers.
Re:Software Piracy (Score:2)
#include (standardslashdotresponse.h) (Score:5, Funny)
I for one am outraged about (subject matter)! This is just another instance of (the government/corporation name) sticking it to those of us who still care about (music/freedom/software)!
In conclusion, stop (subject matter) now!
Regards,
Chairboy
PS, does (subject matter) (run on linux/support OGG Vorbis)? Because if it doesn't, I'm (not buying it/further upset)!
Finally !! (Score:5, Insightful)
Kudos ! Its nice to see them focusing on "real" crime with "real" victims, with tangible losses for a change.
Re:Finally !! (Score:2)
Last time I checked, "shifting" wasn't allowed. I believe the term has changed to: "alted."
Subject category (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Subject category (Score:2)
All of this while they ignore nearly all white-collar crime. Why? Because people are
What the DOJ does (Score:2)
And they are weak at white-collar crime, not for sinister reasons but because these cases are very hard and expensive to try. A prosecutor would rather put five people in prison, and let one go, than spend all his time putting that guy in prison and let five go.
The power of money (Score:5, Interesting)
let's make some maths together.
Regards,
jdif
Re:The power of money (Score:2)
Re #2: I very much doubt if anything remotely like $62 million has been actually recovered. I'd be amazed if they got $6 million back.
Thank You Ashcroft! (Score:5, Insightful)
I see this as a first step in the right direction. People need to learn to stop rampant abuse of an amazing tool. Ashcroft should stamp on illegal filesharers too. It's about time people started playing the game of life legally again. Come on now, leave the blackmarket for IRC.
Re:Thank You Ashcroft! (Score:4, Insightful)
We cant keep our troops from getting killed, we cant stop people from ramming planes into buildings and we cant stop CHILDREN from doing drugs, shooting each other, and "sharing" copyrighted materials. yet somehow arresting far less than 1% of the "cyber" criminals out there is somehow a great thing. right. somehow i fail to be amazed.
why dont we take the money they spent on this nice government action and put it to some good use, like education.
The government (any)cannot and should not police the internet since the internet is NOT owned by the government.
i personally think an international organization seperate from real world government should be created from elected (prefferably knowledgeable, unlike the people currently trying to ruin/run the internet) people who then govern cyber space. using a universal set of laws to prosecute people. its the only way this will be fair to all 6 billion people on this planet.
Re:Thank You Ashcroft! (Score:2, Insightful)
Wrong.
If the Internet is used by a criminal to steal from people by means of credit card fraud, the government can and should prosecute that criminal. Criminals have to be punished, no matter what channel of communication or infrastructure is used in the crime. How would you react to credit card fraud if it happened to you? "Damned, I got robbed. But hey, it happened over the Internet and th
Re:Thank You Ashcroft! (Score:2)
I think your missing the point, i dont think brick-and-mortar governments know enough about cyber space to police it, as such something should be done to create a body, legislative, legal or other to police the internet. No government should try to
NSA budget (Score:2)
Sun Tzu wrote something like "It is cheaper to pay the best spies lavishly than to pay the worst army stingily." NSA earned its huge budget by producing priceless intelligence that advanced US interests and saved US lives. The history of signals intelligence shows that it is a good investment for nations.
Re:Thank You Ashcroft! (Score:2)
No argument about weather we did the "right thing" or not, because that is a matter of perspective.
The united states gov't is not the worlds police, and they shouldnt have done this without world wide support simply because we ARE NOT the worlds police and it seems mighty hypocritical to go and overthrow oil boy (saddam) while letting cigar boy (castro) run an outfit for longer than saddam only 300 miles off our shore. no
Nice link... (Score:5, Informative)
Regards,
jdif
About Time (Score:2)
We still need to know more... (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm not accusing Ashcroft of anything. Yet. But I am VERY VERY suspicious of anything that he touches, or anything fro his department. This is hopefully a step in the right direction. People who con others out of their credit cards or hijacks other computers should be prosecuted. But I think the public needs to closely examine what exactly is going on behind the scenes.
-Trillian
Re:We still need to know more... (Score:2)
Re:We still need to know more... (Score:2)
But, I don't think Ashcroft, Bush, et al, have a very good track record (in _MY_ opinion, and seemingly the opinion of many other people on slashdot) of keeping people's rights in mind wh
Ashcroft is not all bad (Score:5, Interesting)
Slamming is where they change your long distance service from your preferred service to a different one (usually one that charges a very high rate) without your permission.
I didn't know what to do about it and Southwestern Bell's answer was that I should just pay my bill and shut up. So, I called John Ashcroft's office because he was one of my US Senators. Someone at his office made a call to SW Bell on my behalf and voila my problem was solved.
In this case, he has captured people who were actually out comitting crimes against people. These crimes had victims and real consequences. I, for one, applaud this news.
Tomorrow I can go back to fuming about the patriot act. Today, I say "Thank you very much Attorney General Ashcroft for getting some criminals off the internet!"
Re:Ashcroft is not all bad (Score:4, Funny)
Ashcroft is the epitomy of being 2 faced (Score:2)
I even have photos of him shaking hands with Sadamm whenever he was with the Reagan administration secretly supplying Iraq with "materials" to try and destry Iran in ther iran/iraq conflict much the same way Reagan/Bush SR. supplied afghanistan with training/missles/weapons to defeat those dreaded russians!
This guy is the biggest liar i have ever seen
Re:Ashcroft is not all bad (Score:3, Interesting)
They never answered the phone through a
Info on the Phillies "Fan"... (Score:4, Interesting)
Some samples of his "work". [google.com]
The charges. [usdoj.gov]
Apparently he's not the sharpest spoon in the drawer as he not only "email bombed" the Phillies management with rants such as this one, [google.com] but also, obviously, posted the exact material to Usenet.
Read some, there's some quality trollin' ('though not as refined as the infamous "cordial boy" or King Tut).
-dameron
Where's the brotherly love gone? (Score:2)
Jeez, those Philly fans never give up do they? I don't think they'd be satisfied even if their teams won the World Series, Super Bowl, Stanley Cup and the NBA Championship. They'd still find something to complain about - haven't these guys heard of rooting for the home team? No wonder the old Veteran's Stadium had a courthouse and jail added to its basement.
Re:Info on the Phillies "Fan"... (Score:2)
Re:Info on the Phillies "Fan"... (Score:2)
Who'da thunk that hacking & spamming would join that list?
My experience of online crime (Score:4, Interesting)
After all of the formalities had taken place I spoke to the officer who would be handling the case and I asked how long it would take to process because all the time I was losing money to some stupid kid. The officer was very understanding and sympathetic but this was roughly his reply:
"I've got a pile of reports on drugs offences. They generally take a year to process. This report will go on the bottom of that pile."
It seems to me that the reality of crime on the Internet, with the possible exception of child abuse/pornography, is that most criminals will either get away with it entirely or they'll have months, maybe years, to rip-off as many people as they want, before the law eventually catches up with them and delivers a light slap on the wrist.
ps. Wouldn't it be great if you order something over the Internet, legitimately, using your own credit card, receive the product or service but never pay a single penny? Well you can, it's easy, every online retailer knows how it's done and credit card companies have no interest in preventing it. Ask any retailer who is to blame for credit card fraud and the answer will be the same: Credit card companies. I'm not an expert on the subject but I feel confident in saying that with a change of policy from credit card issuers, upwards of 90% of online card fraud could be stopped over-night. I also feel confident in saying that this change of policy will not happen.
Re:My experience of online crime (Score:2)
It is expensive to chase after CC fraudsters, particularly if they are from another country. Any one merchant may only see a single crime from one fraudster and it may not even be enough to be interesting for the FBI. That single fraudster is typically comitting frauds against many merchants but it is only really the credit card companies who have the resources to go after these people.
Re:My experience of online crime (Score:2)
One thing I would add to that, however, is that fortunately, things are changing -- and as you suggest, not due to the credit card issuers. There is an EU directive that is going to hold the banks responsible for CC fraud, and guess what? They are responding. There are initiatives such as 'Verified by Visa' and similar ones for MasterCard etc, where basically you will have a password for your credit card, that doesn't get sent to the merchants, but straight to the banks. Card-not-present me
Re:My experience of online crime (Score:2)
Well dammit man, tell us how to do it! I did some math, and if I don't have to pay money, I can get a LOT more stuff!
Re:My experience of online crime (Score:2)
We have CCV2 numbers too. The big difference is that a legitimate vendor will never ask you to provide a PIN.
Long sentences confuse me (Score:4, Funny)
"...a Virginia woman who sent fake e-mails to America Online customers asking them to update their credit card numbers to a disgruntled Philadelphia Phillies fan..."
I'm not a baseball fan. Was it supposed to make him feel better about their season?
Normal hubris - as insubstantial as can be (Score:4, Interesting)
http://www.cybercrime.gov/carlsonArrest.htm
Good to see.. (Score:3, Interesting)
"Seventy indictments to date have led to arrests or convictions of 125 people"
And the problem? (Score:2)
All it means is that some cases have progressed further than others.
OBTW, that's not a Justice Department quote, but rather text from Wired.
Who is dispensing with 'innocent until proven guilty"?
Re:And the problem? (Score:2)
Those who assume that because someone has been arrested, they will be tried and convicted, and thus should be counted in the same group as those who have already been convicted.
Operation what? (Score:3, Funny)
Way to go Ashcroft ! (Score:2)
Have a nice day.
Hook, this is line, Sinker, Line this is hook. (Score:5, Interesting)
So, is this worthwhile effort? Who else smells the propaganda? How much does a bs operation like this cost these governments?
Instead of pursuing violent street criminals or corporate whores who bankrupt whole billion-dollar companies with lies and theft leaving tens-of-thousands of pensioners and unemployed?
Instead John Ascroft spends his time constructing a ruse to set up as chimera for the Coprorate Media to parrot in order to scare the population straight -- wouldnt want lawlessness would we?
So, what does it cost to construct this kind of psy-op on the American public? Is the media aware before the event? How much is spent on post-'operation' press, PR, Cops
What is more important or what should government's attention/resources be spent? Helping an elderly women on a declining social-insurance in a cold tenament -- or -- making sure the Visa Board of Directors keeps profit up in order that they may share $500Million salary between 12 people?
Re:Hook, this is line, Sinker, Line this is hook. (Score:2, Insightful)
Efficiency (Score:2)
Wow...125,000 victims, 125 criminals. That's a 1000:1 ratio. You know, that's really sad. Back in the day it would have taken thousands of criminals to bilk that many people. So right off the bat there are a lot of criminals out of work. Factor in the lost revenue to the government (stamps, telephone taxes), and to companies like the phone company, stationery stores, typewriter ribbon manufacturers and it's clear that this whole "computer revolution" has been a "bad thing". And to top it off, lawyers
Peanuts Compaired to Wall StreetWhite Collar Crime (Score:3, Insightful)
I just wonder... (Score:2)
One wonders (Score:2)
My unpopular opinion (Score:2)
John Ashcroft did great things for Missouri. The only complaint I ever heard about him from someone I actually knew was that he stopped some state officials from receiving their raises. I can't remember the exact situation but it sounded like he did Missourians a huge favor to prevent already over-inflated salaries fr
Re:"an expressway for crime" (Score:5, Funny)
Now that's just unfair. John Ashcroft's a great Christian Attorney General.
And 'Operation Cyber Thought Crime Sweep' doesn't start until next week, you commie pinko medical-marijuana-using atheist Muslim non-Allegiance-pledging bong-selling Democrat terrorist.
Re:"an expressway for crime" (Score:2)
What about calling him Ashcrack? [govsux.com]
Re:"an expressway for crime" (Score:2)
Names (Score:2, Interesting)
Not trolling, not rhetorical. I actually really want to know if there are any.
Re:Names (Score:3, Interesting)
And then
Re:Names (Score:2)
And remember, the question was Ashcroft. Begin your list here:
Re:Names (Score:2)
And Guantanamo first and foremost violates international treaties, that appliy to the actions of US government regardless of the location.
Re:Names (Score:2)