Indiana man gets 14 years for counterfeit credit card operation

U.S. District Judge Liam O'Grady recently handed down a 14-year sentence to a Hammond, Indiana, man convicted of running an online business that sold counterfeit credit cards. Tony Perez III will serve 14 years in prison for his crime and three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay $2.8 million in forfeiture and a $250,000 fine. Perez, who was found guilty on April 4, operated a business that sold cards encoded with stolen account information. It's thought Perez obtained this information by trolling criminal "carding forums" - internet discussion groups that streamline the purchase and sale of stolen financial account information. According to SC Magazine, credit card companies have tracked more than $3 million in fraudulent transactions using the card numbers found in Perez's possession.  Serving a search warrant last June, the Secret Service discovered a counterfeit credit card manufacturing device and 21,000 stolen card numbers, as well as other fraudulent ID verification information on his computer and email accounts.