Andre Yoskowitz
12 Jun 2009 13:21
Metropolitan Police and the FBI have announced today the arrest of 10 members of what are being called an online music fraud "gang" accused of downloading their own uploaded music thousands of times using stolen credit cards to reap royalty payments.
The songs, which were uploaded and available for sale on Amazon and iTunes, were downloaded over 700,000 times using 1500 different stolen credit card numbers, allowing the suspects to reap over $300,000 USD in royalties from the two major retailers.
Seven men and three women were arrested today in London, Birmingham, Kent and Wolverhampton, each accused conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering.
"It was established that between September 2008 and January 2009 a UK criminal network provided music via an online US company who uploaded the tracks to Apple iTunes and Amazon.com for sale," said a Scotland Yard statement. "This is a significant case for the e-crime unit, which was set up 12 months ago.
"The unit has been set up to provide a point of expertise and a national and international response to online crime. The nature of online crime means the unit are actively developing cross-border partnerships both with other international crime agencies and businesses."
Adds Met Detective Chief Inspector Terry Wilson: "This has been a complex investigation to establish what we believe to be an international conspiracy to defraud Apple and Amazon. This investigation, with its national and international dimension, exemplifies why we have set up this national response to e-crime.
"It shows the success that can be achieved through our close working relationship with the FBI.
"We are now making it more risky for criminals who seek to exploit the internet and commit e-crime across national borders. We are working hard through partnership with industry and law enforcement to combat e-crime and are committed to pursuing those responsible."