by Bill Singer
UPDATE:Credit Card Identity Theft From Russia (And Not With Love)
December 10, 2011
This is an UPDATE of a Street Sweeper article that originally ran on August 11, 2011
Federal prosecutors in Virginia alleged that Jonathan Oliveras, 26, managed a credit card fraud operation that operated throughout the East Coast of the United States. That scheme involved the purchases over the Internet of stolen credit card from sellers believed to be located in Russia. Upon obtaining the stolen information, Oliveras purportedly distributed the data to individuals in New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C. ,who then used the information to make fraudulent purchases.
On August 10, 2011, Oliveras pleaded guilty to a criminal Information charging him with one count of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft. Oliveras admitted to illegally possessing information from 2,341 stolen credit card accounts as well as equipment to put that information onto counterfeit credit cards. The cost of this criminal enterprise appears to be at least $770,674 from 4,400 fraudulent charges. Additionally, Oliveras possessed 409 gift, debit or credit cards with a stored value of $42,688.
Oliveras is scheduled to be sentenced in October 2011, at which time he faces:
- wire fraud charge: maximum of 20 years in prison and a $1,541,349 fine; and
- identity theft charge: maximum of two years in prison and a $250, 000 fine.
For similar stories, read:
Fake Doctor Pleads to Fraud and Identity Theft Related to Eldercare (Street Sweeper, July 12, 2011)
Belarussian pleads guilty in federal identity theft case (Street Sweeper, February 25, 2011)
UPDATE
On December 9, 2011, Oliveras was sentenced in US District Court in Alexandria, VA, to 12 years in prison plus three years of supervised release; and ordered to forfeit $770,646.
Now that ought to put you all in a festive, holiday mood!
Imagine how happy all the Internet sites and retailers are. EBaby and Amazon must just love the idea that a young guy was able to game the system so easily and so profitably. Visa, Discover, Mastercard, American Express - why they must be thrilled to learn that a mere 26-year-old was managing an international credit card identity theft ring. So much for all the highly vaunted anti-theft protocols.
Young Oliveras got a hold of over 2,000 stolen credit cards and rang up over 4,0o0 transactions for nearly a quarter of a million dollars. Quite an accomplishment before the age of 30. Oh well, by the time Oliveras is out of federal prison he will be pushing 38.
