Phish and chips, Italian style

Italian police claim to have cracked a major phishing gang, arresting 26 people following a wide-ranging investigation. Spoof emails which appeared to have been sent from the Italian Post Office, Poste Italiane, asked recipients to follow a link and enter their log-in details. Money was then taken from victims accounts and transferred to pre-paid credit cards. "Criminals can use technology to hide their identities, and it can often be a complex web for the police to untangle," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant for Sophos. However, Italian police managed to catch up with the gang, 18 of whom were Italian nationals, with a further eight from Eastern Europe, in an operation dubbed 'Phish and Chip'. "These arrests highlight the organised nature of international identity-theft gangs, but there are many other phishers still at large," said Cluley. www.sophos.com

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