11-19-2008, 06:07 PM
Posted on Wednesday, 11.19.08
Miami-Dade cop who started ID theft ring probe honored
BY DAVID OVALLE
Honored Wednesday: a Miami-Dade cop whose arrest of two suspicious men for loitering spawned the massive investigation of an ID theft ring that stretched from South Florida to California to Eastern Europe.
Officer Dawn Colon, 37, was honored Wednesday at a meeting of computer crime investigators at the Miami office of the U.S. Secret Service.
''It feels surreal -- whoever thought a loitering and prowling arrest would turn into something of international proportions,'' Colon said.
Back in May 2005, Colon noticed a Mitsubishi Eclipse parked behind the Bally's Fitness Center, 14875 S. Dixie Hwy. Two men inside had suspicious computer equipment.
Colon arrested them, listing a careful inventory of everything in the car. The U.S. Secret Service later launched an undercover investigation that in August led to the indictment of 11 men, three from Miami.
Authorities say the ring sucked 40 million credit and debit card numbers from familiar retailers such as TJ Maxx, Marshalls and OfficeMax. In a practice known as ''wardriving,'' the alleged perps drove around using their computer equipment to hack into the stores' wireless networks.
Federal prosecutors billed it as the largest such scheme in history.
Miami-Dade cop who started ID theft ring probe honored
BY DAVID OVALLE
Honored Wednesday: a Miami-Dade cop whose arrest of two suspicious men for loitering spawned the massive investigation of an ID theft ring that stretched from South Florida to California to Eastern Europe.
Officer Dawn Colon, 37, was honored Wednesday at a meeting of computer crime investigators at the Miami office of the U.S. Secret Service.
''It feels surreal -- whoever thought a loitering and prowling arrest would turn into something of international proportions,'' Colon said.
Back in May 2005, Colon noticed a Mitsubishi Eclipse parked behind the Bally's Fitness Center, 14875 S. Dixie Hwy. Two men inside had suspicious computer equipment.
Colon arrested them, listing a careful inventory of everything in the car. The U.S. Secret Service later launched an undercover investigation that in August led to the indictment of 11 men, three from Miami.
Authorities say the ring sucked 40 million credit and debit card numbers from familiar retailers such as TJ Maxx, Marshalls and OfficeMax. In a practice known as ''wardriving,'' the alleged perps drove around using their computer equipment to hack into the stores' wireless networks.
Federal prosecutors billed it as the largest such scheme in history.