The Department of Justice announced the arrests or convictions of 150 individuals and the return of 117 criminal complaints and indictments regarding online fraud and crime.
The ongoing initiative, dubbed Operation Web Snare, involved coordination among 36 U.S. Attorneys’ offices nationwide, the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice, 37 of the FBI’s 56 field divisions, 13 of the Postal Inspection Service’s 18 field divisions, the FTC, together with a variety of other federal, state, local and foreign law enforcement agencies. The announcement was made jointly by Attorney General John Ashcroft, Assistant Attorney General Christopher A. Wray, FBI Assistant Director Jana Monroe, Chief Postal Inspector Lee Heath, and Federal Trade Commission Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras
“Operation Web Snare also shows that America’s justice community is seeking to anticipate, out think and adapt to new trends in Internet crime,” said Ashcroft in a statement. “This effort shows how effective law enforcement can be against online crime when all levels of government — domestically and internationally — work together.”
More than 160 investigations have been opened as part of Web Snare, which ran from June 1 to August 26, 2004, according to the DOJ. Investigators have identified more than 150,000 victims with estimated losses of more than $215 million. More than 140 search and seizure warrants were executed as part of the operation.
The Direct Marketing Association praised the DOJ and FBI on their efforts.
“For too long, spammers have operated with impunity,” said John A. Greco, Jr., president & CEO of the DMA in a statement. “For too long they have taken comfort in the shadows of cyberspace. Today’s announcement fundamentally alters the playing field by telling spammers loud and clear that they can — and will — be found, and that there will be severe consequences when that happens.
Cases cited by the DOJ in the crackdown include a federal grand jury in the Western District of Missouri in Kansas City, Missouri, returned an indictment in June charging five individuals with conspiracy to commit identity theft, access device fraud, and unlawful access of a protected computer; and a Central District of California federal grand jury indictment of a Romanian computer hacker and five U.S. residents on charges that they allegedly conspired to steal more than $10 million in computer equipment from Ingram Micro in Santa Ana, CA, the largest technology distributor in the world.
The DOJ statement also reported that on Aug. 20, in the Western District of Washington, Usman Hayat of Islamabad, Pakistan pleaded guilty in federal court in Seattle to one count of transmitting interstate and foreign communications with intent to extort. According to the plea agreement, Hayat contacted Eddie Bauer Inc. in February via e-mail, threatening to release photos he alleged showed child labor being used in the production of Bauer apparel.
Hayat claimed he would post the photos online or send them to the media or Eddie Bauer’s creditors if he was not paid $685,000. (According to Eddie Bauer officials, regular audits and unannounced inspections of the Pakistani factories where its apparel are produced have found no evidence of the use of child labor in the manufacture of Eddie Bauer products.) At the direction of law enforcement, Eddie Bauer communicated with Hayat via e-mail and provided Hayat with a plane ticket to Seattle.
In the plea agreement, Hayat admitted that he traveled to Eddie Bauer headquarters in Redmond, WA, and met with undercover agents to collect the $685,000 he had demanded. At the meeting, Hayat showed the agents photographic negatives he claimed showed child labor. Federal agents provided him with $500,000 cash. Hayat agreed to meet the agents the next day to open bank accounts and deposit the money. He was arrested before leaving the Eddie Bauer offices.
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