Vietnam holds 8 who stole credit card info to filch $300 mln Tuoitrenews A credit card user displays her cards in Washington February 22, 2010 After a 2-year investigation in coordination with the US and UK police, the Vietnamese police have seized eight members of a transnational criminal ring that stole credit card information and e-commerce information to appropriate hundreds of millions of dollars from their victims in many countries. Five of the eight criminals were arrested in Ho Chi Minh City while the rest were seized in Hanoi on Friday, the ministry said. Police have searched many villas of these criminals in Hanoi and HCMC, seizing many expensive cars, high-tech telecom equipment and documents related to the case. Out of the criminals, 24-year-old Truong Hai Duy, a man of southern Hau Giang Province, is alleged to be the leading member of the ring. After being arrested, these criminals handed over many deluxe cars and other assets of high value to the ministry’s investigation agency. They, along with others, also set up websites for gambling or football betting activities at large scale, including www.lode.365.com that is in Vietnamese, investigators said. During the past two years, the ministry’s investigators have coordinated with their counterparts from the UK Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in investigating, detecting, following and verifying activities of the criminal ring, the ministry said. According to the case file, the ring had colluded with other criminals gangs in the world to steal credit cards and use high-tech tricks to steal credit card information from many individuals in different countries. They also stole information related to business activities of many e-trading companies in the world. They then used the stolen information to withdraw money at banks or make online purchase of goods. They also offered to sell these credit cards and credit card info at forums intended to hackers all over the world. Vietnamese police are expanding their investigation to track down others involved in the case.