New York federal prosecutors revealed on Tuesday that expanded criminal charges have been filed against three people connected with one the biggest cyber attacks in the financial sector. The suspects are accused of stealing over 100 million contact details from financial companies in the USA to gain hundreds of millions of dollars in illicit profits.

Like Us on Facebook

The operation involved theft of the information of more than 80 million customers of JP Morgan & Chase. The stolen information includes customer's data like names, addresses, emails and phone numbers. The hacking of the biggest U.S. bank by asset was described by Attorney Preet  Bharara as "the single largest theft of customer data from a U.S. financial institution ever."

In a statement, Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said that the accused "perpetrated one of the largest thefts of financial-related data in history - making off with the sensitive information of literally thousands of hard working Americans."

The group has also been accused of hacking other financial institutions such as E-Trade and Scottrade, as well as news organizations, like Dow Jones. Furthermore, they suspects allegedly operated unlicensed online casinos and illegitimate payment process.

The JPMorgan data were used to expedite a "pump and dump" plot where the three men manipulatively inflated penny stocks prices and sold them for huge profits.

The suspects purportedly lauded some penny stocks by sending millions of spam emails about them. Following a rise in the stock's value, they sold their shares - giving them a tremendous amount of profit while leaving innocent investors in debt.

"Today we have exposed a cybercriminal enterprise that for years successfully and secretly hacked into the networks of a dozen companies, allegedly stealing personal information of over 100 million people," Bharara said. "The charged crimes showcase a brave new world of hacking for profit."

Charged in the indictment were Gery Salon, Ziv Orenstein and Joshua Aaron. All of them were charged with computer hacking, conspiracy to commit computer hacking, security frauds and conspiracy to commit securities fraud, to name a few. Aaron remains wanted, while Salon and Orenstein were caught in July.

"The sad truth is that to date, complex cybercrimes like these tend to go unsolved and the criminals tend to go unprosecuted. More often than not, the trail goes cold and the perpetrators get off," Bharara said. "We believe we've changed that narrative and this case is game-changing proof."

TagsJP Morgan and Chase, cybercrime, biggest bank hack, pump and dump plot, spam emails, penny stocks, JP Morgan Chase scam, ETrade hack, Attorney Preet Bharara, hacked financial institutions, Scottrade, Dow Jones, unlicensed online casinos, illegitimate payment process, hacking, Gery Salon, Ziv Orenstein, Joshua Aaron, cyberhacking, computer hacking, security frauds, Criminal charges