11 indicted in wireless theft from stores

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By Ben Conery

Albert Gonzalez and his cohorts needed only a laptop computer to perpetrate one of the worst credit card scams in history, federal investigators say.

The unsecured wireless computer systems of the nine retailers they passed on Route 1 in Miami proved an easy target for Mr. Gonzalez, who is accused of stealing information from millions of credit cards, with only a few strokes on a keyboard.

On Tuesday, Mr. Gonzalez and 10 others were indicted on charges of taking part in a sophisticated international identity-theft ring that devoured nine U.S. retailers, stealing 40 million credit card numbers and unknown amounts of money, according to court documents. Each retailer has stores in the Washington area.

"As far as we know, this is the single largest and most complex identity theft case that's ever been charged in this country," U.S. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey said at a press conference in Boston announcing the indictment that targeted men in five countries.

Authorities aren't sure how much the scam could cost consumers and retailers. The computer breaches began as early as 2003.

"I think it's premature to calculate exactly how much the consumer has lost, how much the retailers have lost at this point in time and how much [the suspects] financially gained," said Michael Sullivan, U.S. attorney for Massachusetts. "I suspect there are a lot of people that aren't aware that their identifying information has been compromised."

Authorities said Mr. Gonzalez hacked into systems belonging to TJX Corp., a discount chain that operates Marshall's and TJ Maxx stores. He also infiltrated BJ's Wholesale Club, Barnes and Noble Booksellers, the Sports Authority, Boston Market restaurants, Office Max, Dave & Buster's restaurants, DSW shoe stores and Forever 21, a popular women's clothing retailer.

After exploiting the systems, the indictment states, Mr. Gonzalez installed a "sniffer" program, which allowed him to capture information such as passwords and account numbers for debit and credit card numbers that customers had used.

Also facing charges are Christopher Scott and Damon Patrick Toey, both of Miami, who authorities say helped Mr. Gonzalez.

According to the indictment, the ring concealed the stolen credit card numbers in computer servers in the U.S. and Eastern Europe.