New York City prosecutors announced on Thursday that 38 people had been indicted as part of a crackdown on a large identity-theft and counterfeit credit-card ring that operated in several parts of the United States as well as China and the Far East.

The investigation into the alleged counterfeiting ring, dubbed "House of Cards," found that suppliers in China sent fraudulently obtained credit- and debit-card numbers to the defendants, who then manufactured counterfeit cards and identification, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said in a statement (pdf) released Thursday. The indicted individuals allegedly had different roles and responsibilities in the ring, including the "production crews" responsible for making the cards, the "shopping crews" that used the cards, and the fences who resold the fraudulently obtained goods.

"This case provides another warning to the public that they must be diligent in the protection of their personal identifying information," Brown said in the statement announcing the indictments. "Identity fraud and identity theft are two of the fastest growing crimes in the United States, afflicting millions of victims and costing billions of dollars in losses to consumers, businesses and financial institutions."

Account fraud and identity theft continue to be major problems for the developing world. In 2007, the impact of reported data breaches skyrocketed, with 163 million records containing some type of personally identifiable information (PII) being reported lost or stolen during the year. Information from cases investigated by the U.S. Secret Service found that the average identity thief is a first-time criminal and not known to the victim. (The case data could be skewed, however, by the fact that people known to the victim might not be reported to the police.) While breaches have skyrocketed, estimates of the losses due to account fraud and identity theft have fallen, to $15.6 million in 2006, according to an annual survey.

In the latest case, the individuals allegedly used the counterfeit charge cards in Arizona, New York and Texas, according to Thursday's statement. The investigation resulted in three indictments: the first accused 26 individuals of enterprise corruption, the second charged 34 of the defendants with identity theft, and the third charged five individuals with various counts of forgery, possession of counterfeiting equipment and grand larceny.

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