Pretending to be someone else to gain profit, is identity fraud regardless of if you stole a real persons identity or created one.
The reason the FBI is involved heavily is because virtually all identity fraud is related to organized crime and money laundering, the rest are usually linked to insurance frauds. Being the first real case of a major identity fraud online, I wouldn't be surprised if the FBI tries to put their heads on a pike as an example to everyone else.
Immaterial of what they did it for, identity fraud is taken as an exceptionally serious crime and as far as I could tell, they performed a thousand or more 'unlawful identity changes' by operating bots under false names for illicit means. The one exception to this is the use of a pseudonym for anonymity, however it's a colossal stretch to claim your bot army are acting as your pseudonyms for your anonymity reasons.
The reason the FBI is involved heavily is because virtually all identity fraud is related to organized crime and money laundering, the rest are usually linked to insurance frauds. Being the first real case of a major identity fraud online, I wouldn't be surprised if the FBI tries to put their heads on a pike as an example to everyone else.
Immaterial of what they did it for, identity fraud is taken as an exceptionally serious crime and as far as I could tell, they performed a thousand or more 'unlawful identity changes' by operating bots under false names for illicit means. The one exception to this is the use of a pseudonym for anonymity, however it's a colossal stretch to claim your bot army are acting as your pseudonyms for your anonymity reasons.