A Florida man serving ten years in prison for fraud and theft is now suing Verizon Wireless, claiming the company was negligent by not preventing him from using the company’s wireless service and products to commit his his latest identity theft. [More]
ID theft
Mom Says College Stole Her ID, Forged Signature To Take Out Student Loan For Son Who Didn’t Attend School
By 9.12.16
A for-profit educator that was recently hit with a $13 million settlement for allegedly filing false claims for student aid is now accused of stealing an Alabama woman’s identity and forging her signature to take out a student loan for her son, even though he never attended that school. [More]
I Know My ID Thief’s Name & Address, But Police Won’t Do Anything About It
By 5.24.16
When you think of an identity thief, you probably envision some squirrelly jerk in a third-world country selling your data on the black market. He’s untraceable and living someplace where the police don’t care. However, that ID thief could be only miles away from you, living an otherwise normal life… in a police where police also don’t really care. [More]
ID Thieves Attack IRS Website Using 460,000 Stolen Social Security Numbers
By 2.10.16
One of the worst things an identity thief can do with a stolen Social Security number is use it to then claim that person’s tax refunds. The Internal Revenue Service has revealed that ID thieves recently tried to attack IRS.gov in an effort to cash in on 460,000 stolen SSNs. [More]
ID Thieves Also Use Call Centers To Outsource Their Scams
By 1.15.16
We all know that a lot of businesses outsource customer service work to call centers around the world. But what you may not know is that there are also call centers that specialize — and openly advertise — their services in aiding ID theft and other cyber fraud. [More]
ID Thieves Hijacking Accounts To Cash In On Bogus Warranties
By 1.6.16
In a pre-online era, when we made most purchases in person, getting a warranty replacement on a broken product often required taking the defective item back to where you bought it. But now that we’re all buying things online, a number of retailers are willing to ship you a replacement on the understanding that you’ll immediately return the original item. ID thieves are taking advantage of this goodwill, hijacking customers’ accounts and convincing companies to send them free replacements for items they never bought. [More]
Consumer, Privacy Groups Urge Federal Regulators To Investigate T-Mobile/Experian Hack
By 10.8.15
A week after Experian revealed that hackers stole personal information for around 15 million consumers from a database of T-Mobile customers and applicants held by the credit reporting agency, a group of 25 consumer and privacy advocates are demanding that federal regulators open an investigation into the breach.
[More]
California Realizes Maybe It’s Not Such A Good Idea To Print Full Social Security Numbers On Mailed Documents
By 10.7.15
Earlier this year, a California state agency was heavily criticized for tempting identity thieves by printing full Social Security numbers on millions of documents it mailed out to state residents. Making matters worse, the agency didn’t really seem to understand why this might be a problem. After a few months to think about it, the bureaucrats appear to have finally come around. [More]
Scottrade Data Breach Leaks Contact Info For 4.6 Million Customers
By 10.2.15
If you’re a T-Mobile customer who donated money through Patreon, you’re already having a bad enough day due to massive breaches of user data. Here’s hoping you’re not also one of the 4.6 million Scottrade customers whose contact info was compromised. [More]
T-Mobile, Experian Data Breach Exposes Personal Info For 15M Consumers
By 10.2.15
Some bad news to start off October — hackers stole personal information for around 15 million consumers from a database of T-Mobile customers and applicants that was held by Experian. [More]
California Tempts ID Thieves, Prints Full Social Security Numbers On Millions Of Mailed Documents
By 7.9.15
From ruining your credit to giving you a criminal record, a clever ID thief can do some significant damage with a stolen Social Security number, so why is one California state agency putting this information out there in the mail for these fraudsters to swipe? [More]
ATM Debit Card Data Theft Is Up As Much As 317%
By 5.20.15
While retailers and payment networks work to cut down on data breaches in stores and online, it looks like fraudsters are relying more on stealing your card info at the ATM, as recent months have seen an unprecedented spike in the number of debit card data thefts from both non-bank and in-bank ATMs. [More]
AT&T To Pay $25M To Settle FCC Investigation Into Call Center ID Theft
By 4.8.15
FCC investigators have found that AT&T call center employees in Mexico, Colombia, and the Philippines illegally accessed and sold personal data — including names and (mostly partial) Social Security numbers — for around 280,000 customers. Thus, the telecom giant has agreed to settle with the Federal Communications Commission for $25 million, the Commission’s largest privacy and data security enforcement ever (at least until the next mammoth, inevitable cock-up). [More]
Consumers Lost $1.7B To Scams In 2014, Imposter Crimes On The Rise
By 3.2.15
For the 15th consecutive year, identity theft topped the Federal Trade Commission’s list of top consumer complaints. But its reign could be coming to an end following a significant increase in the number of scams in which con artists impersonating government agents and law enforcement personnel part consumers from their money.
[More]
What Can An ID Thief Do With My Social Security Number?
By 2.17.15 — Updated: 5.2.17
When I was working at the library in college, every student had to tell me his/her student ID number to check out a book, and with very few exceptions that number was also the student’s Social Security number. Oh boy, the profitable things I could have done if I’d been enterprisingly evil. [More]
Ohio Residents May Need To Take “Quiz” Before Getting State Tax Refunds
By 2.11.15
If you’re an Ohio resident and you’re expecting a refund on your state taxes this spring, you might have to go online and take a personalized “quiz” in order to prove you are who you claim to be before you can get your money. [More]
Bank CEO Rips Walmart For Allowing ID Thieves To Spend $12K Without Anyone Noticing
By 12.10.14
How do ID thieves spend $12,000 in just a couple of hours at Walmart without anyone noticing? Quite easily, apparently. Which is why one CEO of a Texas-based bank is criticizing the nation’s largest retailer. [More]
ID Thieves Use Domino’s Ordering App To Check Stolen Card Numbers
By 12.8.14
Let’s say you’re a criminal who has just purchased a bunch of credit/debit card numbers stolen from one of the data breaches that occur every day. How do you check to see if the numbers you’ve purchased are any good? For ID thieves in Brooklyn, the Domino’s Pizza ordering app provided a quick and easy way to run through those numbers — and get pizza for people. [More]
