Four members of a banking fraud ring operating in UK have been sentenced to a total of over thirteen years in prison. The men, who used a computer trojan to get into the online banking accounts of their victims, were arrested in London back in April.

In April 2009, we reported on the arrest of nine London-based suspects, four women and five men, in connection with identity theft and bank fraud activities. The operation, which culminated with simultaneous raids at several locations in South East London, was a joint effort between Metro Police's new Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU) and its Specialist Crime Directorate (SCD).

Last Friday, November 13, Joao Dos Santos Cruz, 33, of Angola, Paolo Jorgi aka Ricardo Pereira, 36, of Portugal, Azamat Rahmonov, 25 and Shohruh Fayziev, 23, both of Uzbekistan, were sentenced in London's Southwark Crown Court, the Metropolitan Police annouces. A fifth man, Edgar Orlando Henriques, 21, of Venezuela, has failed to appear in court and is currently wanted.

According to the authorities, the suspects distributed a computer trojan that targeted the customers of several financial institutions. After being installed on a victim's computer, the malware began monitoring browsing sessions for a list of known online banking sites.

Once such page was detected, a rogue, but a legit-looking Web form, asking users for extensive personal and financial information, was being injected into the session. This is known as a Man-in-the-Browser attack and allows criminals to steal information without arousing suspicion.

The gang members would later log into the online systems and transfer funds to the bank accounts of people serving as money mules. The mules withdrew the money, kept a percentage for themselves as commission and wired the rest to Eastern Europe and Russia through Western Union or similar services.

"This was a complex investigation which certainly involves other people in Russia, but there was a clear structure to the organisation in the UK," said Detective Constable Kevin Brocklesby from the PCeU. "Due to effective partnerships with the financial industry we have successfully closed down an international criminal network and reduced the financial harm to institutions and thousands of UK victims by millions of pounds," noted Assistant Commissioner Janet Williams, the ACPO lead for e-crime.