SHANGHAI police said yesterday that they detained seven suspects for hacking a prepaid card company and stealing hundreds of thousands yuan from unsold cards.
More than 500 Xinhua cards, a widely accepted prepaid card in the city, were cashed out by the suspects by breaking into the company's system, causing a total loss of 800,000 yuan (US$128,713), police said. Only 300,000 yuan in cash and valuables was recovered.
The value on the cards was sold on the Internet to a card scalper surnamed Xiao, through whom the police tracked down the suspects, said Zhou Jun, vice-captain of a criminal investigation squad of Xuhui District police.
Zhou said at least two hackers assaulted the company's system and one of them, surnamed Wang, was one of the top 10 hackers born after 1990 in the country.
The losses were reported last November after the e-commerce company found more than 500 of their unsold Xinhua cards empty.
"The card can only be used in Shanghai, so the suspects had to sell and transfer the amount to buyers in Shanghai to make a profit," Zhou said.
Police found Xiao had bought the 800,000 yuan at 96 percent of its value from the suspects.
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