Articles and Ideas December, 2008
In a fascinating story reported by the Los Angeles Times, former NFL running back Chuck Muncie recently thwarted an attempt at a fraudulent loan made in his name.
The ID theft ironically marked how different Muncie’s life is today than when he himself was on the wrong side of the law, according to the Times. In fact, the three-time Pro Bowl choice even did jail time, going to prison in 1989 for selling cocaine.
All that has changed, said Muncie, who today mentors athletes and heads the Chuck Muncie Youth Foundation, which aims to keep southern California youth from making ...
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When seniors get taken advantage of in group homes they may not report it; afraid of being ridiculed, accused of memory problems or even threatened with losing control over their own finances. This makes them prime targets for identity thieves, and scammers who would take advantage.
Part Time Employee, Part Time Scam Artist
A terminally ill woman on hospice was living at an assisted living center in northeast Texas when she received a disturbing American Express bill - The total was over $5K, and she hadn’t used her card in over two years. An on-call employee who lived in the next town ...
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A story that has been unfolding since last year is finally drawing to a close with the guilty plea of a 28 year old man who has admitted to using hacked PIN numbers to loot Citibank ATMs. Aleksandar Aleksiev was arrested last May when a stakeout set to catch him withdrawing cash at a Citibank branch proved successful.
Prime Time Drama?
Alekseev is the tenth person charged on what proved to be an offense with all the earmarks of a made for TV series - a Russian mastermind, a Ukrainian crime ring, a fake marriage and a giant corporation’s cover up. Supporting ...
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When one thinks of identity theft, a hacker at a computer stealing the information of an unsuspecting victim often comes to mind.
But sometimes, criminals illegally obtain the information of multiple individuals all at one go, experts are now saying.
Reports on Dec. 1, 2008 outlined the story of a woman who was arrested and found to have the credit card numbers of more than one hundred people. The information had been listed on four typewritten pages and was stuffed into her purse.
Police were luckily called on a hunch from a motel clerk, who saw the suspect rummaging through the ...
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Tis the season to be careful, according to experts in the field of ID theft and theft prevention.
Shopping is projected to be down this year as opposed to previous years due to a flagging economy. Even so, criminals will have a watchful eye out, waiting for harried consumers to look the other way.
Because more purchases are made around the holidays, and because both husband and wife may be buying off the same credit cards, an extra withdrawal or two could easily be missed. The rushed quality of the season also makes people more lax than usual about keeping up with ...
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Peter Lim was ticked off at his supervisors. Fortunately for them, he decided filching gift cards sent in the mail he was supposed to be processing was sufficient revenge, rather than opening up with an AK 47.
Unfortunately for Lim, another employee had been under suspicion and postal inspectors had put the gift card envelopes in the mail as bait. They were surprised when the 17 year postal employee took the bait.
There is a zero tolerance policy for theft by postal employees due to the trust the public must be able to have in them. This means that a theft of ...
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If you use a fake identity, are you an identity thief? Lawyers will argue in the Supreme Court early next year (2009) that you may not be…if you didn’t realize the false ID was connected to a real person.
Immigrants and ID
It’s nowhere near as confusing as it sounds…and it’s a lot more commonplace than you’d think. Experts in the case Flores-Figueroa v. United States, which demands a two-year prison sentence for “knowingly” using another person’s identification, point out that purchasing false ID doesn’t mean the individual realizes it already belongs to another person.
In fact, many immigrants to the U.S. seek ...
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Iowa has one of the lowest ID theft levels of anywhere in the US, but lawmakers and enforcers stay on their toes. Too much on their toes, according to some, who point out flaws in new laws proposed to cut down still further on this particular type of crime.
A legislative study panel heard expert witness testimony on cyber crime and combative methods, revealing that sometimes the laws as they are written hurt more than they help. Legitimate commerce could be impeded by laws that restrict information to the point that accurate details cannot be obtained.
This is especially true in the ...
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You’ve heard the rumors and always wondered: can a computer hacker really pick up on your computer keystrokes remotely--say, from across a coffee shop or library?
It’s a fear many people have, and with good reason: remote-access crimes have already been reported and are under investigation by authorities. We explore the circumstances under which it could happen, and ways you may be able to keep yourself safe from remote-access ID theft.
Keyboards, Monitors and Electro-Magnetic Waves
Though it sounds like it came straight from a sci-fi movie, tech experts say that in some cases it may indeed be possible for a hacker to ...
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When you walk in a doctor’s office, one of the first things you get to do is sign a form explaining your right to privacy. Yet, in a case on Capitol Hill, a judge ordered medical records to be opened and made public in the case of a woman who used the information of a dead person to receive treatment.
Was the Judge Right to Expose Medical Records?
The records revealed not only the woman’s crime of identity theft, but exposed her as an illegal immigrant, causing her to be targeted for deportation. In a country where big brother has their hands ...
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