John Leyden reports:
A recidivist ID theft fraudster who used a people search website to verify the authenticity of stolen social security credentials has been jailed for more than 16 years.
Todd Yurgin, 41, of Newark, Delaware, earned the severe sentence because he had twice previously been convicted of federal fraud offences. In sentencing, Chief Judge Sleet described him as a “professional con artist and criminal whose life has been one of deception”.
Yurgin’s latest wheeze involved stealing the mail of prospective marks before using people search sites including USinfosearch.com to validate social security numbers before applying for credit cards under assumed names.
[…]
The social security numbers of 93 confirmed victims – including 44 children – were abused to apply for 342 credit cards and 54 bank accounts using valid numbers and fictitious names.
Read more in The Register.
Related: DOJ Press Release.