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News from the BBC:

Ten charged over online theft from banks

Ten people have been charged by police investigating the theft of money from online bank accounts.

The charges of conspiracy to defraud and laundering money, follow the arrest of 19 people across the south east by the Met Police Central e-Crime Unit.

They are investigating the theft of at least ÂĢ6m from online accounts over the past three months allegedly using software to record bank log-in details.

The accused, from eastern Europe, are due before magistrates in London later.

Four banks

Eight of those who will appear in court are also charged with money laundering.

An eleventh person has been charged with offences under the Identity Cards Act 2005.

They are due to appear in custody at Camberwell Green Magistrates' Court.

Nine other people, six men and three women, who were arrested in connection with the investigation, have been bailed until next month.

Those charged with conspiracy to defraud and money laundering are Ukrainians Yuriy Korovalenko, 28; Yevhen Kulibaba, 32 and Roman Zenyk, 29.

Three are Latvians, Karina Kostromina, 33; Ivars Poikan, 29 and Kaspars Cliematnieks, 24.

A 27-year-old Estonian, Aleksander Kusner and Eduard Babaryka, 26, from Belarus, face the same charges.

Two Ukrainians, Milka Valerij, 29 and Iryna Prakochyk, 23, face a single charge of conspiracy to defraud. All the accused are registered as living in Chingford, Romford and Harlow in Essex.

A 34-year-old Georgian, Zurab Revazishvili, from Romford, was charged with identity offences under the 2005 Act.

Possible links

The online operations of four banks, HSBC, the Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays Bank and Lloyds TSB, were allegedly targeted between 13 October 2009 and 28 September 2010, according to the charges.

 

And a couple of days ago the BBC reported this story. As the story says, the police are investigating whether there are links to these two stories.

Seven in southern England charged over money laundering

Seven men have been charged with allegedly laundering money stolen from online bank accounts.

They were arrested at addresses in Portsmouth and West Sussex on Tuesday morning, Hampshire Constabulary said.

A possible link between the raids and 20 arrests by the Met Police's Central e-Crime Unit over the theft of ÂĢ6m from online accounts is being investigated.

The accused, who are all Polish nationals, are due before Portsmouth Magistrates' Court later.

Detectives said the inquiries began after "irregular bank account activity".

A Hampshire police spokeswoman said they were arrested as part of Operation Aggregate, an investigation into a group which was believed to be operating as a cell of a larger organised crime gang.

Foreign exchange

The spokeswoman said: "The group is alleged to have accessed victims' online bank accounts and transferred money to accounts under their control.

"It is alleged that the men then used bank cards to withdraw the stolen cash at foreign exchange facilities.

"There are potential links between the Hampshire investigation and arrests made on Tuesday by the Metropolitan Police Central e-Crime Unit."

She added: "It is too early to comment further on this link at this time whilst this is under investigation."

The charged men are: Daniel Jarco, 30, of Market Street; Sebastian Stepka, 26, of Sandringham Way; Piotr Buscek, 31, of Leas Court; Krysztof Klatta, 29, of Abbotsbury; and Damien Grabowski, 26, of no fixed abode, who are all from the Bognor Regis area

Also charged are Marek Lach, 32, of St Augustine Road, Littlehampton, who is also known as Daniel Kwasniak, and Piotr Karolewski, 20, of Laburnum Grove, Portsmouth.

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And from the BBC news today, this has become international now:

More than 100 arrests, as FBI uncovers cyber crime ring

FBI special agent Weysan Dun, Omaha FBI The investigation kicked off when the FBI noticed a pattern of suspicious bank transactions in Omaha

The FBI says it has cracked a major international cyber crime network after more than 90 suspected members of the ring were arrested in the US.

The suspects worked as so-called mules for fraudsters based in Eastern Europe who hacked into US computers to steal around $70m.

More people were detained in Ukraine and the UK, local police said.

The FBI said the arrests were part of "one of the largest cyber criminal cases we have ever investigated".

Most of those arrested in the US were charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and money laundering, a US Attorney said.

They are suspected of acting as go-betweens or mules by providing bank accounts for an elaborate cyber crime scheme.

Hackers in Eastern Europe would use spam email to infect computers of small businesses and individuals in the US with a virus known as Zeus, the FBI said in a statement.

The unnamed hackers were then able to to access users' online passwords and bank account details and used them to transfer money to the bank accounts provided by the go-betweens in the US.

The crime ring attempted to steal around $220m, the FBI added.

The arrests were the result of an international operation that kicked off in Omaha in May 2009 when FBI agents noticed a row of suspicious bank transactions.

Law enforcement agencies in the US, Ukraine, the Netherlands and the UK were also involved in the investigation.

Police in the UK arrested 19 people suspected members of the ring.

In Ukraine, police arrested five people suspected of directing the scheme, the FBI said.

El Loro

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