Two held in global PC fraud probe
18 November 2009
Two suspected computer hackers have been arrested in Manchester in a major inquiry into a global internet scam designed to steal personal details.
The trojan program is believed to have infected thousands of computers around the world, said The Metropolitan Police which is leading the investigation.
A man and woman, both aged 20, have been questioned and bailed until March 2010 pending further inquiries.
Police revealed the arrests were the first in Europe as part of the inquiry.
The investigation focused on the ZeuS or Zbot trojan - "a sophisticated malicious computer program", said police.
The malicious software records online bank account details, passwords and credit card numbers to steal cash with the information accessed.
It also copies passwords for social networking sites before causing each computer to forward the data to servers under the control of the hackers.
It has emerged in several guises, including a false Facebook page that encouraged users to download a software update.
The pair being questioned were arrested on 3 November under the 1990 Computer Misuse Act and the 2006 Fraud Act.
Details of the arrests have only just emerged.
Det Insp Colin Wetherill said: "The ZeuS Trojan is a piece of malware [malicious software] used increasingly by criminals to obtain huge quantities of sensitive information from thousands of compromised computers around the world.
"The arrests represent a considerable breakthrough in our increasing efforts to combat online criminality."
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