Police Bust Biggest Identity Theft Ring Ever in Queens
The Queens DA office announced today that more than 100 people have been busted in a massive identity theft ring. The defendants are charged with stealing more than $13 million over 16 months, starting in 2010.
The ring was comprised of bank tellers, restaurant workers and foreign tourists who worked together to swipe thousands of customers' credit cards and use them to buy illicit goods. They allegedly spent more than $13 million on "iPads, iPhones, computers, watches and fancy handbags from Gucci and Louis Vuitton," according to the AP.
The thing that makes this case notable, besides its size, is the sheer diversity of the crooks involved. You know, the stereotypical ID theft ring is a bunch of Eastern European thugs, or Chinese hackers. But, judging from the names in the indictment, this ring involved Russians, Asians, South Asians, blacks, whites, latinos, Middle Easterners, Americans and foreigners alike. It's like the Epcot Center of organized crime! Gotta love Queens.
