Switched has a new home! Huffpost Tech.

Click here to visit the new home of Switched!

Hot on HuffPost Tech:

See More Stories
AOL Tech

High-Tech Pickpocket Ring Broken Up by FBI

by Terrence O'Brien on June 15, 2009 at 02:25 PM

Imagine if the the characters in 'Oliver Twist' had access to the Internet and other high-tech equipment. Fagin's band of orphaned pickpockets wouldn't have stopped at just snatching wallets; they would have used the stolen credit cards to commit fraud, and the driver's licenses to steal identities.

Well, according to FOX News, a Chicago-based group calling itself 'Cannon to the Wiz' has been merging low-tech pickpocketing with the modern scheme of choice -- identity theft. The group, active since 2007, has targeted residents in the Detroit area, where suspected ringleader Leonardo Darnell Zanders is currently being held in prison.

Two separate February raids by postal inspectors and the Secret Service on the respective homes of Zanders and alleged associate Clyde Austin Gray, Jr. turned up IDs, checks, and credit cards stolen from over 100 victims in total. The FBI alleges that the ring stole money and personal documents from victims at Detroit-area sporting events, as well as in Virginia and Washington D.C., highlighting the national nature of the crimes. So far, the FBI has charged ten people in connection with the ring, describing those charges as only the "first" swipe at the group. Wired estimates that Cannon to the Wiz has over 200 members, so we expect to see more charges filed soon. [From: FOX News]

Tags: crime, fbi, identity theft, IdentityTheft, pickpocketing, top

Add your comments

Please keep your comments relevant to this blog entry. Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments.

When you enter your name and email address, you'll be sent a link to confirm your comment, and a password. To leave another comment, just use that password.

To create a live link, simply type the URL (including http://) or email address and we will make it a live link for you. You can put up to 3 URLs in your comments. Line breaks and paragraphs are automatically converted — no need to use <p> or <br /> tags.

HuffPost AOL Social News Most Popular