Fraudsters stole the identities of hundreds, including the Supergirl protagonist from the TV series “Smallville,” in a large-scale, multi-million dollar international scheme.
So far, four people have been arrested, according to federal authorities, while others have fled to India, where the whole operation appears to have originated.
One part of the scheme involved stealing identities through fake job listings.
The fraudsters would offer jobs for a company called “Deutche Group.”
They would collect personal information from job applicants and then use that data to set up shell companies and apply for credit cards.
“Qualities we look for in our USA workforce are good moral character, honesty, sincerity and intelligent people with good or excellent credit,” states the Deutche Group website, that has now been largely shut down.
Another part of the scheme involved stolen credit cards and fake IDs.
The fraudsters had an insider in an American Express call center in India, who would supply stolen credit card numbers, according to court documents.
The fraudsters set up at least one fake travel company—Trip Arena (TripArenaonline.com). Customers would book their trips through the company and pay for them, but the company would just keep the money and book the clients’ trips with stolen credit cards instead.
In many cases, the credit card company would discover the transaction was paid with a stolen card and block it.
That would leave the customers with flights cancelled shortly before the trip, or worse, stranded in the middle of the trip with their return flights cancelled.
When the credit card companies challenged the fraudulent transactions, the fraudsters would use fake images of credit cards and fake images of passports to back up their claims, The Washington Post reported.
When an FBI agent, and a “Smallville” fan, looked at one of the passport images, he noticed the holder’s photo showed none other than Laura Vandervoort, the Supergirl protagonist from “Smallville.” She also played a villain Brainiac 8 in the current TV series “Supergirl.”
Identity-theft ring victimized hundreds, including Hollywood actress, feds say... https://t.co/zDsamBeWl9
— DRUDGE REPORT (@DRUDGE_REPORT) June 17, 2016
Chaudhry, in particular, seemed caught off guard by his arrest Thursday, telling a magistrate at his initial appearance in federal court in Alexandria that he didn’t understand the charges against him and denying he had any significant ties to India.
Prosecutors say their investigation is ongoing, and they are hoping that victims who came into contact with Chaudhry, The Knowledge Center, the Deutche Group or any of his other business dealings will come forward to help them understand the scope of the scheme.
Those who believe they may have been a victim can file a complaint at ic3.gov, and should use the keyword “CCTRAVELVICTIM” in their description of the complaint.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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