John Langeler reports: Most people would enjoy getting a $7,000 check in the mail. In the case of one West Seattle man, all the check indicated was his identity had been stolen. “The check had my Social Security Number on it as well as another woman’s name,” he said, asking us not to release his name,…
Category: ID Theft
Security firm report says Target data hack was low tech
Jennifer Bjorhus reports: The U.S. Secret Service has called the criminals behind Target Corp.’s monster security breach well-organized, “highly technical” and “sophisticated.” But cybersecurity firm McAfee Inc. said in a report out Monday that the heist was anything but exotic, describing the attack as a Breach 101 operation. The thieves used easily modified off-the-shelf malware, common methods…
OH: Two sentenced for using stolen identities in tax refund fraud scheme
Tawanda Marimbire, 25, of Cincinnati was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 70 months in prison for his role in a scheme to use stolen identities to obtain at least $5 million in fraudulent tax refunds. Co-conspirator Kudzaishe Robert Bungu, 28, was sentenced to 27 months in prison. In early 2012, the Secret Service and…
GA: Cobb County Man Sentenced In Identity Theft Scheme
Bradford Thomas has been sentenced to ten years and one month in prison for using stolen identities of prisoners to file false federal income tax returns that claimed millions of dollars in fraudulent refunds. According to United States Attorney Sally Quillian Yates, the charges, and other information presented in court: From January 2010 through May…
CA: San Juan Unified School District notifies parents of information security breach
Sharokina Shams reports: Officials at a Sacramento school district are notifying parents that records containing personal identifying information were found at the Southern California home of a wire fraud suspect. The San Juan Unified School District posted the information on its website Friday, one day after KCRA 3 informed the district that an FBI investigation had…
Leader Of Identity Theft Ring Targeting Government Employees And Others Sentenced To 12 Years
A follow-up to a case reported previously on this blog: Jenaro Blalock, 31, of Clinton, Md., was sentenced today to 12 years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for access device fraud and aggravated identity theft. Blalock also was ordered to pay full restitution to the victims. Blalock pleaded guilty on Oct….