How It Should Be

Once again, the subject matter of my blog is Sally Q. Yates, the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia. One day in November 2008, an American credit card processor was hacked in by perhaps the most sophisticated and organized computer hacking rings in the world.

Through the efforts of the U.S. Attorney's Office and the FBI's Atlanta office headed by Greg Jones, the back of this organized crime ring has been broken. Six Russians have been indicted on charges of conspiracy, wire fraud, and access device fraud. All charges carry lengthy (up to 20 years) prison sentences.

"This success would not have been possible without the unprecedented cooperation from various law enforcement agencies world wide," said Lanny A. Breuer, Assistant Attorney General in charge of the Criminal Division of the Justice Department.

According to court documents, the criminals obtained unauthorized access to the computer network of RBS World-Pay, the U.S. Payment Processing Department of the Royal Bank of Scotland, located in Atlanta. The group compromised the data encryption that was used by RBS World-Pay to protect customer data on payroll debit cards. These debit cards allow employees of companies to withdraw their salaries from ATMs.

The hacking ring then raised the account limits on compromised accounts and withdrew $9 million sending the money to 44 "cashiers" around the globe.

For further information contact Sally Q. Yates, U.S. Attorney, through Patrick Crosby, Public Affairs Officer at 404-581-6016. Their web site is www.usdoj.gov/usao//gan.