Criminals hacking into finan­cial institutions are fueling a computer crime wave, with the FBI receiving thousands of com­plaints a month, an agency offi­cial said.
 
"Tens of millions of dollars" have been stolen online, said ShaWn Henry, assistant director of the FBI's Cyber Division.

The FBI is receiving as many as 18,000 complaints a month related to security breaches or fraud, many of them involving financial institutions, Henry said.

The FBI is working with other U.S. agencies and has placed agents overseas to co­ordinate with foreign govern­ments in fighting cyber crime, he said. In one case, the FBI helped the Romanian govern­ment arrest 90 people, most of whom were hacking into finan­cial institutions or retail net­works, Henry said.

The Department of Home­land Security is heading a Bush administration initiative to safe­guard government computers from hackers, Henry said.

The FBI is seeing an increase in scams that trick computer users into disclosing their pass­words and personal information, he said.
 
Customers of banks and bro­kers reveal account information in e-mails in the belief they are communicating with their fi­nancial institutions. The hackers then can sell stocks or other as­sets.

Source:
Bloomberg News, published in the Indianapolis Star 10/19/08