Thirty-eight people in the U.S. and Romania have been charged in two indictments alleging they used complicated Internet phishing schemes to steal thousands of credit and debit card numbers, U.S. and Romanian authorities announced Monday.

The alleged ring aimed to bilk thousands of unwitting consumers and hundreds of financial institutions, according to indictments unsealed in Los Angeles and New Haven, Conn. More than half of those charged are Romanian, although authorities say the scam was being carried out in Canada, the United States, Portugal and Pakistan.

Federal authorities said the phishers participated in a trans-Atlantic scheme that targeted large number of individuals and financial institution.

Data entered by unwary users into a fraudulent website was used to create counterfeit bank cards, which were then used to siphon money from compromised accounts. A percentage of the proceeds were allegedly sent onto Romania while the rest was kept by their US accomplices. Fraudulent transactions were made in Canada, Pakistan, Portugal and Romania.