Identity Theft Articles
Tweet! Tweet!
Last week two hits on Twitter were made - the first two large scale hits on Twitter. First, President Elect Barack Obama’s Twitter account was hacked, along with the accounts of several other prominent people. This was alrming enough, but the second scam was much more sinister.
People were receiving emails to go and check out a story. The emails took them to a ‘Twitter login page’, and their usernames and passwords were being captured. This is a common phishing tactic, used to obtain information that can often be backtracked to more info about the person - particularly when the ...
Continue Reading ...
No Comments »
It’s a nightmare scenario no family ever wants to face: 11-year-old Rebecca has been stricken by a rare form of cancer. Worse, Rebecca’s father, an aircraft rigging assembler, was laid off from his struggling company seven months ago.
The family makes do with seasonal work…when they can find it. Meanwhile, Rebecca, who loves horses, Hannah Montana and hopes to be a marine biologist one day, is getting worse.
But perhaps the biggest tragedy here is that Rebecca isn’t real.
Heart Strings and Computer Viruses
Shocked? Confused? A little angry? You should be. Social engineering involves manipulation of the emotions, like the sympathy you likely ...
Continue Reading ...
No Comments »
The far reaching effects of Katrina are still making themselves known. When the devastating hurricane hit new Orleans, thousands of people were displaced, and some went off the grids altogether - to reappear months later in other cities and states living under assumed identities.
Identity theft easy in face of disaster
The handling of such a catastrophe was going to be difficult, everyone knew, but just how vulnerable victims could be wasn’t driven home completely until last week, when FEMA revealed the names and social security numbers of more than 16,850 relocated individuals had been posted on two websites.
The SSNs, names and ...
Continue Reading ...
No Comments »
New Jersey state and government law enforcement officials have arrested four men in connection with a ring that stole millions from existing home equity lines of credit, The Washington Post has reported.
Even more frightening, three individuals pleaded guilty in Virginia to being co-conspirators to the New Jersey gang. $10 million may have been heisted by the group, authorities said.
Arrests Made Across the U.S.
Under arrest for this ongoing series of thefts are Derrick Polk, of Los Angeles; Oludola Okinmola of Brooklyn, NY; Oladeji Craig, also from Brooklyn; and Oluwajide Ogunbiyi of Springfield, IL.
The heists were global, with millions ...
Continue Reading ...
No Comments »
The problem of illegal immigrants becoming participants in identity theft is more widespread each year, and federal tax returns prove it.
Operation Number Games
Back in November, officials from both the Weld District Attorney’s Office and the Weld County Sheriff’s Office officially announced they were working together on Operation Number Games. This sting involved a sweep of more than 1,300 illegal immigrants who were suspected of using false or stolen Social Security numbers and identities.
The operation was set into motion when a local man got arrested for stealing a Social Security number. The man confessed that he had obtained the tax ...
Continue Reading ...
No Comments »
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 ...
Continue Reading ...
No Comments »
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 ...
Continue Reading ...
No Comments »
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 ...
Continue Reading ...
1 Comment »
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 ...
Continue Reading ...
No Comments »
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 ...
Continue Reading ...
No Comments »
