I doubt very much they will capture much sympathy from Internet users.
Online crooks face tough competition
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080408/ap_on_...EQ00JfXAkOs0NUE full story
By JORDAN ROBERTSON, AP Technology Writer Tue Apr 8, 12:58 AM ET
SAN FRANCISCO - Fierce competition among identity thieves has driven the prices for stolen data down to bargain-basement levels, which has forced crooks to adopt mainstream business tactics to lure customers, according to a new report on Internet security threats
Credit card numbers were selling for as little as 40 cents each and access to a bank account was going for $10 in the second half of 2007, according to the latest twice-yearly Internet Security Threat Report from Symantec Corp. released Tuesday.
Symantec detected 711,912 new threats last year, 468 percent more than in 2006, when it found 125,243 and almost two-thirds of all 1,122,311 Symantec has cataloged since 2002.
The data is usually sold through instant-message groups or Web forums that exist for only a few days or even hours, according to Symantec, and the hacking community exacts harsh consequences when members try to pass along fraudulent information.