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                          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.
                         
                         
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               ********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.

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