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Dozens charged in NY in global computer virus scam

Hackers in eastern Europe who used computer viruses to steal usernames and passwords teamed up with foreign students who opened bank accounts in the U.S. to snatch at least $3 million from American bank accounts, authorities said Thursday in announcing charges against more than 80 people.

The FBI said the scheme started with a program known as Zeus, an Internet banking Trojan which can steal computer access data including usernames and passwords for bank accounts, e-mail accounts and social-networking websites. The program gains access to the computer when a victim clicks on a link or opens a file attached to a seemingly legitimate e-mail message.

Once the program is engaged, computer hackers can secretly monitor the victim's computer activity, enabling them to obtain bank account numbers, passwords and authentication information as the victim types them into the infected computer, the FBI said.

The scheme also relied on individuals who were known as "money mules" in the United States to actually steal money, the FBI said. People from the Russian Federation, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus who had obtained student visas to come to the United States were recruited through social networking sites and newspaper advertisements to open hundreds of U.S. bank accounts for fraudulent purposes.

The money stolen from the victims would be deposited into the bank accounts and then transferred in smaller amounts elsewhere. Authorities said those who set up the bank accounts would keep 8 to 10 percent for themselves before sending the rest to others involved in the scheme.