ROANOKE TIMES 
                      Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times

DATE: Tuesday, August 27, 1996               TAG: 9608270068
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL   PAGE: A-6  EDITION: METRO 
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES
SOURCE: Associated Press 

FEDS' STING USES REAL CREDIT FILES CARDHOLDERS LEARN THEIR HISTORIES BAIT

Some bank customers' credit histories were used without their knowledge in a Secret Service sting operation that trapped a renegade computer operator, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

The government supplied Ari Burton of Las Vegas with information about 35 Citibank cardholders, including the customers' names, addresses, home phone numbers, Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, available credit lines and outstanding balances.

Burton went for the bait and ended up pleading guilty to charges of possession of stolen credit information.

But many of the cardholders learned of the disclosure only last week, three years after the information was first released, when they were contacted by the Los Angeles Times.

Anyone who can obtain a copy of the court case file can have access to all this information, even though none of the cardholders gave permission for the government to use their private files.

``I'm upset, I'm real upset,'' said Joe Becker of Costa Mesa, Calif. ``I want to know how this happened.''

Authorities in some parts of the country say they never use real credit information to nab suspects. But investigators and prosecutors in Las Vegas said this is not the first time they have used such techniques.

They argue that they must use a real ``access device'' - another term for a credit card number - because they can't get suspects convicted using fake numbers.

``Unless the `access device' is a real number, it's just a number,'' said Jerry Wyatt, assistant special agent in charge of the Las Vegas Secret Service office.

But many lawyers disagree, pointing out that it is illegal to attempt to possess a credit card number, even if it turns out to be fake.

So agents could invent fictitious customers and credit histories, use that information in sting operations, and still have a good shot at conviction, legal experts said.

Citibank acknowledges that it released the files to the government, but says it meant no harm. Sentiments like that, however, do little to comfort outraged cardholders.

``Financial information is private, and I have a right to privacy,'' Becker said. ``I'm worried about how this information might be used now that it's out there.''

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