Four members of a south Florida-based criminal gang believed to have been responsible for more than US$75 million in credit card fraud losses have been arrested by the U.S. Secret Service.

More than 200,000 credit card account numbers, two pick-up trucks, about $10,000 in cash and one handgun were also recovered in connection with the gang's activity, according to a Secret Service statement Monday.

The gang was uncovered through an earlier investigation that involved the Secret Service's Miami and Nashville field offices. That probe targeted an individual named Julio Lopez, who used the screen name "Blinky" to traffic in counterfeit credit cards and stolen IDs for years over the Internet.

The Hialeah, Fla.-based Lopez and his girlfriend Anett Villar were arrested earlier this year, and an investigation into their activities led to the discovery of an organized fraud ring of Cuban nationals operating in south Florida, according to the Secret Service.

The agency alleged that the gang sent "large amounts" of money using E-gold accounts to cybercriminals in eastern Europe in exchange for "tens of thousands" of stolen credit card numbers. The numbers were then used to create counterfeit cards in several "plants" throughout the state. [...]

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