The U.S. Justice Department announced shut down a global cyber crime ring on Wednesday, saying it had indicted 36 people who caused more than $530 million in losses to consumers.

The federal indictment is charging 36 individuals for their alleged roles in the 'Infraud Organization,' an Internet-based cybercriminal enterprise engaged in the large-scale acquisition, sale, and dissemination of stolen identities, compromised debit and credit cards, personally identifiable information, financial and banking information, computer malware, and other contraband.

Federal, state, local, and international law enforcement authorities arrested 13 defendants from the United States and six countries: Australia, the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Kosovo and Serbia.

"Today's indictment and arrests mark one of the largest cyberfraud enterprise prosecutions ever undertaken by the Department of Justice," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Cronan. "As alleged in the indictment, Infraud operated like a business to facilitate cyberfraud on a global scale. Its members allegedly caused more than $530 million in actual losses to consumers, businesses, and financial institutions alike - and it is alleged that the losses they intended to cause amounted to more than $2.2 billion. The Department of Justice refuses to allow these cybercriminals to use the perceived anonymity of the Internet as a shield for their crimes. We are committed to working closely with our international counterparts to identify, investigate, and bring to justice the perpetrators of these crimes, wherever in the world they operate."

According to the indictment, the Infraud Organization was created in October 2010 by Svyatoslav Bondarenko, 34, of Ukraine, to promote and grow interest in the Infraud Organization as the premier destination for carding-purchasing retail items with counterfeit or stolen credit card information-on the Internet. The organization directed traffic and potential purchasers to the automated vending sites of its members, which served as online conduits to traffic in stolen means of identification, stolen financial and banking information, malware, and other illicit goods. It also provided an escrow service to facilitate illicit digital currency transactions among its members and employed screening protocols that purported to ensure only high quality vendors of stolen cards, personally identifiable information, and other contraband were permitted to advertise to members.

During the course of its seven-year history, the Infraud Organization inflicted approximately $2.2 billion in intended losses, and more than $530 million in actual losses, on a wide swath of financial institutions, merchants, and private individuals.