Authorities charge nearly 100 people in US, Egypt with ‘phishing’ identity theft scheme

Nearly 100 charged in US, Egypt in ID theft scheme

LOS ANGELES — U.S. and Egyptian authorities have charged nearly 100 people with helping an identity theft ring steal money from thousands of bank accounts.

An FBI statement says an indictment unsealed Wednesday in Los Angeles charges more than 50 people in the United States with running the “phishing” scheme. Egyptian authorities have charged another 47. The FBI says it’s the largest number of defendants ever charged in a cybercrime case.

The indictment claims Egyptian hackers used e-mails to direct victims to phony bank Web sites, where they were asked to provide account numbers. Authorities say the crooks then raided their bank accounts.

The FBI says 33 people were arrested Wednesday morning, mostly in Southern California and in Nevada and North Carolina.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — U.S. and Egyptian authorities are arresting dozens of people to crack an identity theft ring that victimized thousands.

Laura Eimiller, an FBI spokeswoman in Los Angeles, says agents are making arrests Wednesday morning in Southern California, Nevada and North Carolina. She says about 100 arrests are expected in the United States and Egypt, many in the Los Angeles area.

An indictment accuses the ring of running a “phishing” scheme, using computer intrusion and fraud to obtain personal information allowing them to withdraw money from bank accounts.

In “phishing,” people answering an e-mail are directed to a bogus Web site and asked to update information such as passwords and account numbers.

Eimiller says victims may have lost a combined couple million dollars.