Four former employees of the American Express call center in Fort Lauderdale, FL, were among 14 people charged this week with stealing consumer credit card information and using it to spend at least $2 million.
The four were among six people fired from the call center in June 1998 after American Express, New York, discovered suspicious activities. The company said it cooperated with Florida authorities during a two-year investigation of the incident.
Those charged are accused of taking the account numbers and personal information of 150 people with good credit histories. The information was used to obtain false driver's licenses and to create new accounts.
Those accused face charges of organized crime and grand theft. Seven of the 14 are currently under arrest.
