Secret Service busts French ID theft ring

The U.S. Secret Service, in conjunction with the French National Police, has busted an international ID theft ring that has caused more than $14 million in fraud losses, reports InfoWorld.

The French National Police arrested four people on online fraud charges, one of whom had the alias "Lord Kaisersose" and is "associated with Internet sites known for identity theft and financial fraud activities," the Secret Service said.

More than 28,000 stolen credit- and bank-card numbers were discovered in the investigation. The US Secret Service also closed down an illegal credit card-selling activity called Operation Hard Drive, which led to the arrest of two suspects who are allegedly behind more than $1 million in credit card fraud.

French police arrested an unnamed man, who went by the alias THEEEEL on credit card-selling Web sites, on charges relating to ID theft.

The second man, Nicholas Joehle, of Calgary, Alberta is alleged to have sold fake credit card readers, known as "skimmers" over the Internet. These devices are often illegally used by employees at legitimate businesses that accept credit cards and are becoming a growing problem in the U.S.