At least three times this year, a hacker called Vladutz introduced himself as being an official representative of the eBay client service, in the attempt to steal personal information from the US citizens visiting the popular auction site. The man, named in fact Vlad Duiculescu, part of a wider fraud network managed by a foreign crime syndicate, was apprehended last week, with the aid of FBI and Secret Service officers. Justice Department officials pointed at the case, drawing the alarm on the wide spreading of a crime network that knows no boundaries, Washington Post

"Speaking to an audience at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey offered praise for the successful efforts by Robert F. Kennedy decades ago to break the back of the Italian American mafia but told listeners that the current threat from international syndicates poses even greater challenges.

The new breed of criminals is "more sophisticated, they are richer, they have greater influence over government and political institutions worldwide, and they are savvier about using the latest technology, first to perpetrate and then to cover up their crimes," Mukasey said, according to Washington Post.

Officials said they worry that suspects motivated by greed could team up with more ideologically minded terrorists. Last month, arms trafficker Viktor Bout, the "merchant of death," was arrested in Thailand for allegedly conspiring to sell weapons to Colombian rebels, the newspaper notes. At least three times this year, a hacker called Vladutz introduced himself as being an official representative of the eBay client service, in the attempt to steal personal information from the US citizens visiting the popular auction site. The man, named in fact Vlad Duiculescu, part of a wider fraud network managed by a foreign crime syndicate, was