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********ITEMS OF INTEREST******** The San Francisco Examiner Wednesday, May 9 1990 SECRET SERVICE RAIDS 29 SITES Tied To Probe Of Alleged Fraud By Computer Hackers (Examiner News services) The Secret Service searched as many as 29 locations Tuesday in at least 13 cities -- including San Jose, Los Angeles and San Diego -- as part of an investigation of alleged fraud by computer hackers, law enforcement sources said. The searches are part of an investigation code-named "Operation Sun Devil" of the unauthorized use of credit-card numbers and long-distance dialing codes as well as illegal entry into computer systems by hackers, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The investigation is also focusing on incidents in which computer hackers alledgedly changed computerized records at hospitals and 911 emergency lines, according to one source. In San Jose, Secret Service Agent Larry Cunningham confirmed that a search warrant was executed Tuesday in connection with a nationwide investigation. He would not confirm wheather an arrest was made or what type of place was searched. Warrants were obtained by the Secret Service to conduct searches in what various sources said were 13 or 14 cities, including New York, Chicago, Cincinnati, Detroit, Miami and Pittsburgh. The investigation is being supervised by Stephen McNamee, the U.S. attorney in Phoenix, and Arizona Attorney General Bob Corbin. The two officials were expected to announce details of the investigation at a news conference Wednesday in Phoenix. McNamee's spokeswoman, Wendy Harnagel, denied a report by CBS News that 10 suspects were arrested in the raids. "Nobody was arrested to my knowledge, and, if they were, it was completely unrelated to this case," Harnagel said. ******** ******** ********The San Francisco Chronicle******** Thursday, May 10, 1990 LAWMEN SEEK HACKERS -- RAIDS IN 15 CITIES (Chronicle Staff and Wire Reports) Federal investigators seized 42 computer systems yesterday in a probe of crimes that may be linked to young computer hackers, including a San Jose teenager, authorities announced yesterday in Phoenix. The seizures resulted from an 18-month investigation into a variety of crimes by an undetermined number of hackers in at least 15 cities. The investigation centers on a Phoenix-based computer bulletin board called "Billionaire Boys Club," according to a San Jose police spokesman. The suspects may have exchanged information about stolen credit card numbers through computer bulletin boards, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Tim Holtzen in Phoenix. "We are experiencing a crime wave in the computer area that is just astronomical," said Gail Thackeray, an assistant Ariziona attorney general who haded the state's part of the investigation. One victim of the hackers lost $1.7 million, said Arizona Attorney General Bob Corbin. No arrests have been made for computer-fraud crimes, but three people were taken into custody on unrelated charges such as weapons violations, said U.S. Attorney Stephen M. McNamee in Phoenix. The suspects were arrested in Chicago, Los Angeles, and Pittsburgh, authorities said. The crimes include credit card fraud, theft of long-distance telephone service and improper entry into government and private computers. Computer hackers are suspected of changing computer records at hospitals andpolice 911 emergency lines, according to one source. In the Bay Area, authorities searched the home of 18-year old Frank Fazzio Jr., a San Jose State University Student who lives with his parents in the Almaden Valley area, a spokesman for the San Jose Police Department said Tuesday. Federal investigators refused yesterday to confirm the name of the person whose home was searched in the San Jose area and noted that the search warrant was sealed. Fazzio's name was "inappropriately released" to The Chronicle on Tuesday, police Lieutenant Richard Couser said yesterday. Assistant U.S. Attorney leo Cunningham in San Jose said no hacker arrests had been made in the South Bay. Neither Fazzio nor his family could be reached for comment. In addition to San Jose, searches were conducted in Los Angeles; San Diego; Phoenix, Ariz.; Tucson, Ariz.; Plano, Texas; Miami; Saginaw, Mich.; Chicago; Detroit; Cincinnati; Richmond, Va.; Newark, N.J.; Pittsburgh; and New York City. ********* *********