US authorities have sentenced a man to seven years in prison for buying stolen identities from cyber-criminals in other countries.

Jacob Vincent Green-Bressler was convicted of soliciting information including credit and debit card account numbers, Pins, expiration dates, passwords and social security numbers.

The 21 year-old created counterfeit credit cards to take more than $1m from cash machines in Arizona, including one withdrawal of $148,000 at the Casino Del Sol.

At the height of the scam, it is estimated that Green-Bressler held more than 4,500 illegal credit and debit card account numbers and Pins and that more than $300,000 was transferred overseas.

Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said that law enforcement agencies have traditionally focused on catching the cyber-criminals who sell identities online.

But he warned that more action needs to be taken to stop the criminals who buy and use this information.

"Tackling the identity theft problem is not just about stopping the suppliers because there are always more cyber-criminals lurking out there ready to step into their shoes," Cluley said.

"It is just as important that anyone buying this information does not think that they can get away scot-free."