SIXTY people including a man from Rochdale have been arrested after an international website used by criminals to buy and sell fake identities was shut down.

The 21-year-old from Firgrove, was arrested on Monday on suspicion of possessing articles for use in fraud. He was bailed until January 15.

The Serious Organised Crime Squad in the UK and the FBI in America led a probe into the use of the secret Darkmarket forum which resulted in other arrests in Hull, London, Germany, Turkey, and the US. Darkmarket operated for just under three years and sold information on how to obtain stolen identities and credit card details.

The website, which before it was shut down could only be accessed through invitation, was attractive to criminals as it offered details contained on the magnetic information strips on the back of credit cards. Personal and confidential information could be bought for as little as one pound and then used to fraudulently access large amounts of money.

No suspicion

The most sought after were corporate credit cards belonging to frequent business travellers. These were prized because they could be used by criminals all over the world to spend large sums without arousing suspicion.

The deputy director of the Serious Organised Crime Squad (SOCA), Sharon Lemon, said: "Darkmarket is a one-stop shop for the online criminal. "You can go to the forum and engage in criminal activity quite freely.

"You can buy any product you want, you can sell any product you want. She added: "They are taking someone else's money. These aren't geeks we're talking about. These are serious and organised criminals. "And they can vary. You can be the beginner who can go on to the site, get a tutorial and start your life of crime. "Or you get people who are fed up. They think actually Class A drugs are a bit hands on, why do that when I can make hundreds of thousands online?"

One person arrested had spent £250,000 via the website obtaining personal data and investigators believe potentially they could have illegally acquired £10m by using the information."

Investigators first became aware of the site in 2006 but let it run in order to gain evidence against those using it. Ms Lemon said there were 2,000 users registered on Darkmarket, but many of those were not unique because one individual could go by a number of on-line aliases.