Six Bay Area women who allegedly used stolen credit card information to buy more than $1 million of merchandise from malls along Interstate 80 between Sacramento and San Francisco have been arrested by a team of high-tech crime investigators.
Task force officials say the women are part of an identity theft and credit card fraud ring with international ties. They have identified more than 400 victim account holders in the United States, Europe, Japan and Australia.
"They were just on a crime wave," says Capt. Jim Cooper, a member of the Sacramento County Sheriff's office and commander of the Sacramento Valley Hi-Tech Crimes Task Force. The task force - comprised of 33 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies - has been investigating the ring since January.
The six women, between the ages of 21 and 37, all have connections to the city of Richmond. Combined, they face more than 180 charges of identity theft and fraud. Three have pleaded guilty and are facing four to eight years in prison. The other three are awaiting trial.
The ring is still under investigation. Officials believe it has a dozen more members.
-- Andrea V. Brambila
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