Articles and Ideas November, 2008
It sounds absurd, but authorities say it happens with frightening regularity: children are being targeted for identity theft.
What’s worse, the thieves could be family members who take advantage of their children’s social security numbers to procure credit cards or fraudulent loans.
Identity theft may be easier and faster to detect when perpetrated against adults, as most individuals in the workforce check their credit regularly.
It’s different in the case of a child, who may never know his or her identity was tampered with until years later, experts warn. The possibility is an unsettling one for parents, but there are signs to look ...
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Health club patrons in the Pacific Northwest had no idea that while they were toning and shaping their looks, their features were being altered even more.
Crime on the Go
Members of an ID theft ring headed by one Gabriel Jung were filching credit cards from gym lockers and skipping merrily out to a mobile lab in the back seat of a vehicle outside. Using photos of ring members, false ID cards were manufactured with the help of a computer and printer in the back seat and matched to each card.
The group apparently used their forged identities and the credit cards to ...
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Think identity thieves are done when they’re sent to prison? Think again. Just as “on the outside,” ID criminals in prison work via the phone and in other ways to continue their thieving ways.
In fact, identity theft may be one of the easiest crimes to pull of from prison, experts say. Many forms of ID theft involve networked communications (read: “hacking”), which can often be achieved using nothing more than a phone line and a little criminal know-how.
And ID criminals often have a realtime network too, working in conjunction with others to pull off multiple scams.
Behind Bars
It’s long been known ...
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...on credit belonging to parents of sick child.
Marcus and Heather Oginsky’s son had surgery at The Children's Hospital in Denver. Like good citizens, they paid their bill, not knowing the person taking their payment and thanking them had more personal reasons to be grateful.
The Oginsky’s credit card number paid for her vacation in Vegas. Aurora-based Revenue Enterprises , a third party billing provider, terminated her after they found out she had abused her position as a specialist working on the hospital’s account. Revenue Enterprises says the woman in question had passed their background check. Incredibly, she’ll pass her next one, ...
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Some people move frequently, whether for work or other reasons. They may constantly be forced to update all information. This can put them at risk from ID thieves who take advantage of the lag in time while mail and bills catch up.
Favorite Tricks of ID Theives
A favorite trick of ID thieves is going through people’s trash. They hope to strike it lucky and find an unshredded bank statement or a deposit slip or unheeded credit card application. All too often we don’t get out mail reassigned on a later date - and that means we won’t be getting those late ...
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Last October, Portia Rankin of Louisville, KY got a big surprise when she discovered she had bought a house--but didn’t own it.
Ms. Rankin was forced to appear in court when “her” home on Highland Avenue became entangled in foreclosure and legal issues. It was the first she’d ever heard of the property; in fact, she’d never even seen the house.
So what happened? According to Ms. Rankin’s attorney, mortgage defrauders used Rankin’s stolen identity to obtain a loan for the property on Highland Avenue--and then took off with the money. Left in the middle was Rankin, who according to the deed ...
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They were living high on the hog - BMWs, motorcycles, trips and fancy hotels and Dallas strip clubs every night. What they didn’t know was that the net carefully being laid by the Secret Service for two years was closing in.
Homeless People Used as Pawns
When Naval Petty Officer and former US Naval payroll clerk Cora Dixon decided that the men and women she worked with were easy pickings for ID theft, she didn’t take into account the government’s fury at someone who would take advantage of the nation’s military.
The Texas woman and five others, including her boyfriend Seneca Wills, rounded ...
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Becoming the victim of identity theft is bad enough. Being arrested on behalf of the criminal is worse. When a thief robs an innocent individual of his or her account information and goes on crime sprees, the victim may be caught in the crossfire.
Perhaps most insultingly of all, the victim may not even know he’s been had until the police come knocking at his door. And to top it all off, his account may have been depleted and his credit ruined.
Surprise!--You’re a Criminal
The St. Paul (MN) Press reported on Oct. 29, 2008 that Beth Ellidge gave police her sister Nicole ...
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When you fill up at the gas pump, you may unknowingly be leaving something behind: your identity. ID theft at the gas pump is the preferred method of the latest generation of ID defrauders. But there are ways to outsmart them. Let’s take a closer look at this growing problem and what you can do to minimize the risks.
A Full Tank…and an Empty Bank Account?
ATM card users have long been advised to shield the key pad any time they input a PIN number to obtain services. Though this method is an important one and can deflect a thief standing just ...
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Virginia and many other states used to use Social Security Numbers on drivers licenses. Due to the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 which went into effect on December 17, 2005, all new licenses and registrations issued since that date have randomly assigned numbers.
Unfortunately, not all of the licenses from before have expired, and a serious security breach that occurred during the elections in Charlottesville, Virginia could have serious ramifications. Two laptops with personal information such as the names, addresses, birth years and DMV numbers of every registered voter in the city were stolen after the polls closed ...
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