GENEVA (AP) — Swiss prosecutors say they’ve charged three people accused of illegally obtaining data on at least 133,600 credit cards with computer fraud following their extradition from Thailand.
The Swiss attorney general’s office said Tuesday that the group for years earned a living from the unlawful procurement and fraudulent online use of credit card data. It said that “credit card holders around the world and Swiss financial institutions” were affected.
The three allegedly obtained the data through so-called phishing attacks, using emails, websites and text messages.
Prosecutors say they operated from October 2009 until they were arrested in 2014 and 2015 in Bangkok. They were then extradited to Switzerland, where they are currently in pretrial custody.
The Swiss say it’s the first indictment in the country in a global phishing case.
Comments are not available on this story. Read more about why we allow commenting on some stories and not on others.
We believe it's important to offer commenting on certain stories as a benefit to our readers. At its best, our comments sections can be a productive platform for readers to engage with our journalism, offer thoughts on coverage and issues, and drive conversation in a respectful, solutions-based way. It's a form of open discourse that can be useful to our community, public officials, journalists and others.
We do not enable comments on everything — exceptions include most crime stories, and coverage involving personal tragedy or sensitive issues that invite personal attacks instead of thoughtful discussion.
You can read more here about our commenting policy and terms of use. More information is also found on our FAQs.
Show less