The Australian Federal Police (AFP)said their scam was the biggest credit card data theft Australia had seen. The Romanian syndicate accessed 500,000 Australian credit cards by hacking into the computers of small retailers. It then used data from around 30,000 of those cards to create new, fake credit cards and charged around US $31 million to them.
“This is the largest data breach investigation ever undertaken by Australian law enforcement,” said AFP Cyber Crime Manager Glen McEwan Thursday.
Small businesses (100 employees or fewer) have increasingly become the target of hackers, according to experts such as Computing Professor Alan Woodward, who wrote about the trend this month for the BBC. These businesses are targeted because they lack the budget and inclination for robust cyber security, Woodward said.
The Romanian theft ring investigation was a joint effort between Australian and Romanian authorities, but involved the cooperation of 14 countries over the past 17 months.
According to reports in Australia, the international wrestling champion Gheorghe "The Carpathian Bear" Ignat, was among those held but later released.
Australian financial institutions have reimbursed all financial losses of Australian cardholders.
