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Former informant accused of stealing information from 130 million credit and debit card accounts


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Albert Gonzalez, a former government informant known online as "soupnazi," stole information from 130 million credit and debit card accounts in what federal prosecutors are calling the largest case of identity theft ever.

Gonzalez's exploits ended when he went to jail on charges stemming from an earlier case involving 40 million accounts.

Gonzalez, 28, is a former informant for the U.S. Secret Service. He had also been working with criminals and feeding them information on ongoing investigations.

Gonzalez is in jail awaiting trial in a hacking charge, and was also indicted Monday in New Jersey and charged with conspiring with two other unnamed suspects to steal the private information.

How much of the data was sold and then used to make fraudulent charges is unclear.

He is said to have focused his efforts at  7-Eleven Inc. and the supermarket chain Hannaford Brothers Co. Inc. He also targeted Heartland Payment Systems, a New Jersey-based card payment processor.

Gonzalez faces a possible life sentence if convicted in the case he is awaiting the trial on. This new charge carries a max sentence of 20 years.

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Jamie Richardson was born in Houston, raised in East Texas, attended college in College Station, and has lived in the Dallas-area since graduation. She is a news junkie and enjoys reading the headlines to summarize the biggest news the metroplex has to offer. Contact Jamie at jamie...

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