The Iceman Cometh

In this version the Iceman is Max Ray Butler, 35, of San Francisco. And he is going to Pittsburgh, PA for arraignment. Butler used the aliases "Iceman," "Aphex," "Darkest" and "Digits" on the internet. He could face 40 in prison and a $1.5 million fine.

Butler operated a web site with an online forum facilitating the theft and sale of credit card numbers. He also stole the credit card and identity information of tens of thousands of people. Witnesses said they had seen Butler in a hotel where he would go from room to room using a high powered antenna so he could intercept wireless signals. He would then hack into financial institutions and credit card processing centers to steal the information.

In the complaint, one witness said he purchased tens of thousands of cards from Butler. Butler sold these for several hundreds of dollars per batch. Butler is charged in PA on three counts of wire fraud and two counts of transferring stolen identity information as a participant in the investigation there bought 100 credit card numbers and related information from Butler.