ID Theft Ring Swiped Million of Dollars: FBI
Wednesday, Oct 7, 2009 | Updated 2:42 PM PDT
U.S. and Egyptian authorities are making dozens of arrests to crack an identity theft ring that victimized thousands of people.
Laura Eimiller, an FBI spokeswoman in Los Angeles, said FBI agents made arrests Wednesday morning in Southern California, Nevada and North Carolina. She said about 100 arrests are expected in the US and Egypt -- many of them in the Los Angeles area.
An indictment accuses the ring of running a "phishing" scheme in which it used computer intrusion and fraud to obtain personal information and withdraw money from bank accounts.
"Phishing" means people answering an e-mail are directed to a bogus website where they are asked to update personal information, such as passwords and account numbers.
Eimiller said victims might have lost a combined couple million dollars.
