The U.S. described a vast, multi-year criminal enterprise centering on hacks of at least nine big financial and publishing firms and the theft of information on 100 million of their customers that fueled a web of stock manipulation, credit-card fraud and illegal online casinos.
Two indictments, unsealed Tuesday, tied three of four suspects to previously reported hacks of JPMorgan Chase & Co., E*Trade Financial Corp., Scottrade Financial Services Inc. and Dow Jones & Co., a unit of News Corp.
From 2012 to mid-2015, the suspects and their co-conspirators successfully manipulated dozens of publicly traded stocks, sent misleading pitches to clients of banks and brokerages whose e-mail addresses they'd stolen, and profited by using trading accounts set up under fake names, prosecutors said.
Along the way, members of the ring tried to extract nonpublic information from financial corporations, processed payment information for fake pharmaceuticals and fake anti-virus software, falsified passports and took control of a New Jersey credit union, said prosecutors.
