ARC recently helped the U.S. Secret Service bring
down a credit card fraud ring that made purchases of more than $3.5
million.
According to the Department of Justice, six people based out of New York state and Pennsylvania pleaded guilty in
September to their participation in the scam.
From 2015-2018, a network of individuals in the New York/New
Jersey area took trips around the U.S. to use stolen credit card information to
purchase goods and services. The ringleader, Hamilton Eromosele, 29, of the
Bronx, N.Y., obtained the information from sources including the dark web, and
provided it to his conspirators. He would collect what they purchased with the
stolen information and sell it for cash, then giving his conspirators a
percentage.
The ring's fraudulent purchases totaled over $3.5 million
using more than 4,000 stolen credit card accounts.
ARC came into the picture when its fraud-investigation team,
using fraud-analytics technology, found a pattern of suspicious purchases of
airline tickets using compromised cards.
ARC brought that to the attention of the National
Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance, which then notified the Secret Service.
ARC said its report triggered the investigation. It continued to lend support
by monitoring the suspected fraudsters' air ticket purchases.
Travel agencies are encouraged to get in touch with ARC if
they see incidents of possible fraud by emailing [email protected] or
calling 855-358-0393. ARC also offers fraud resources
and webinars.
"The conspirators in this case left a trail of financial
destruction in their wake," said Doug Nass, ARC's director of fraud
investigation. "ARC was proud to furnish the support that shut down this fraud
ring, which is an example of the threats the travel industry faces daily."