More than 130 people have been arrested and $17 million has been seized nationwide in operations by the FBI and other agencies to stop cybercrime.
The Justice Department dubbed the effort “Operation E-con,” a collection of separate investigations over five months targeting investment scams, sales of stolen software, online banking fraud–even a purported Russian marriage service.
Officials estimated the collective losses across more than 90 investigations at $176 million, affecting 89,000 victims.
In one case, suspects used a Web site to sell more than $2 million worth of pharmaceutical drugs without prescriptions. In another case, about 400 victims lost about $3,000 each in a scheme that offered men the hope of marrying a Russian woman.
At a news conference, FBI Director Robert Mueller called the problem of cybercrime “large and growing,” noting that complaints increased 300 percent last year to 48,000.
