https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/t...dit-card-fraud
From August 2014 through May 2016, Lev recruited individuals to give him their personally identifiable information, such as names and Social Security numbers, which Lev used to open numerous small-business accounts in their names with the victim credit card company. With Gibson’s assistance, Lev then used those accounts to make purchases that generated rewards points, which could be redeemed for frequent-flyer miles with various airlines. Once the points were issued, Lev cancelled the purchases and sold the points to Gibson, who resold them to third parties for use as miles to purchase airfare. Over two years, the scheme cost the credit card company more than $8 million in fees paid to the airlines for acceptance of points for miles
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I assume this is related to the enhanced security / shutdowns earlier this year. All I have to say is... $8 million? Mind-boggling to me that people would have the gall to try and do it on that scale. I could see somebody getting tempted for a couple free flights, but surely at this scale it was just a matter of time before they were caught.