Authorities Crack International HELOC Ring

Federal authorities in Newark, N.J., arrested four more individuals last week they believe are responsible for draining millions of dollars from credit unions and banks around the country by tapping into home-equity lines of credit. The arrests make a total of 17 individuals charged in the international scheme by which the suspects engineered fraudulent wire transfers or gained unauthorized access to the victims' online accounts to drain HELOCs, then wired millions of dollars in proceeds overseas. The scheme is reminiscent of the TJX credit card breach, where stolen credit union and bank account information was sold over the Internet and used to siphon millions of dollars from American shoppers from sites all over the world. "Home-equity lines of credit are an expanding front in the battle against mortgage fraud," said Christopher Christie, U.S. attorney for the District of New Jersey. "Homeowners should carefully review their statements to make sure their hard-earned equity is not disappearing from under their noses," he said.