Arrests were made in nine Romanian cities in an operation involving more than 110 raids on homes, according to the Associated Press (AP).
The group would place false advertisements for high valued goods such as cars, boats and electronic devices on e-commerce websites including eBay.com and Craiglist.org. Victims would then wire the group their money, and never receive the goods they believed to be purchasing.
Most of the money gained from the fraudulent sales was collected from outside of Romania with accounts set up with fake identities. The money would then be sent to the group through affiliates in other countries.
Romania has become a hotbed for cybercrime over the past few years often targeting US citizens. Romanian citizen Adrian Ghighina was arrested in Florida in 2009 and is now serving a 4 year sentence after being convicted for the transporting of money gained from an online scheme.
Another Romanian, Andrei Daniel Avram, is reported to have made over $150,000 from 51 victims using the exact same online e-commerce scheme. Avram wired money back to Romania in batches of $3,000 or less, He was also sentenced to four years in prison last Friday for conspiracy, fraud and forgery.
AP reports that Romanian police are working closely with US authorities in this investigation, as US cybercrime experts have helped Romanian authorities dismantle similar crime groups. Those arrested face charges of computer fraud and membership in an organized crime group.
