Arrests made for using Heartland’s hijacked credit card numbers

by Steve Ragan - Feb 18 2009, 21:47

Law enforcement agencies in Florida, the Leon County Sheriff’s Office, and Tallahassee Police Department, as well as members of the Secret Service have recently announced the arrest of three people in connection to the Heartland Payment systems data theft.

After being alerted by Visa and MasterCard of suspicious activity surrounding processed card transactions, Heartland enlisted the help of several forensic auditors to conduct an investigation into the issue. The investigation uncovered malicious software that compromised data crossing Heartland's network. The total number of records compromised is unknown. However, saying that millions of card numbers were at risk is a reasonable guess.

However, police in Florida, after a three-month investigation, managed to nab some of the minor criminals who benefited from the breach at Heartland. According to a press release, the three arrested individuals were using hijacked credit card numbers that were tracked back to Heartland.

Tony Acreus, Jeremy Frazier, and Timothy Johns were arrested after using stolen credit card numbers to make fraudulent purchases at local Walmart stores. During the joint investigation, the police determined that Acreus, Frazier, and Johns had been using the numbers to encode Visa Gift Cards, which were then used to make purchases at local businesses.

As is the cycle for this type of crime, once the stolen credit card numbers are sold off to the small-time crooks, they are used to buy legitimate items, which are fenced off for cash. While the real criminals will likely never be caught for placing the Malware on Heartland's network, those who bought the card numbers will almost always get busted by using them.

According to the police, the three managed to amass around $100,000 USD in purchases using the stolen accounts. While the three men have been arrested, there is no word on the amount of jail time they may be facing.

The list of charges, which could yet expand according to the police, are as follows:

Johns faces 151 counts of fraudulent use of a credit card, 45 counts of fraudulent use of personal identification, one count of grand theft, and one count of fraud to obtain property in excess of $50,000 USD or more.

Frazier faces seven counts of fraudulent use of a credit card and seven counts of fraudulent use of personal identification, one count of grand theft, and one count of fraud to obtain property in excess of $50,000 USD or more.

Acreus faces 60 counts of fraudulent use of a credit card, 15 counts of fraudulent use of personal identification, one count of grand theft, and one count of fraud to obtain property in excess of $50,000 USD or more.

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