Levi Pulkkinen reports: What could that Seattle speeding ticket cost? Your identity, according to federal court filings released Thursday. In a six-count indictment filed in U.S. District Court, federal prosecutors assert a Seattle Municipal Court employee passed account information into an identity theft ring in which four people are presently charged. Federal prosecutors claim Diamond…
Category: U.S.
MO: Envelope glitch gives peek at data
Janese Heavin reports: Rex Cone is always concerned about identity theft. So he was especially worried when he received a tax form from the University of Missouri last week that allowed his Social Security number to be displayed through the envelope’s window. “With all of the public service announcements saying to look out for your…
MN: Forgers got data from OSHA fine checks
Steve Alexander reports: A potentially large check-fraud operation has been broken up by Minnesota investigators, exposing a ring that allegedly stole account information from checks that businesses submitted to the state Department of Labor and Industry to pay fines. So far, no one has been charged in the case, but a state clerical employee who…
Mortgage Broker Who Dumped Consumer Records Settles FTC Charges
A mortgage broker who discarded consumers’ personal financial records in a publicly- accessible dumpster paid a $35,000 civil penalty to settle Federal Trade Commission charges. According to an FTC complaint filed in December 2008, the defendant improperly disposed of about 40 boxes of sensitive consumer records collected by companies he had owned, including tax returns,…
Chase bank seems a bit too loose with clients’ data
David Lazarus writes: West Hills resident Victoria Afonina works as a computer programmer for a major supermarket chain, so she knows probably better than most people how vulnerable her personal information is once it gets out into the open. She routinely tells banks and other financial-service providers that they can’t share her information with other…
OR: City staff’s private info sent out with water bills
Elissa Harrington and KVAL.com staff report: A list of the names and Social Security numbers of employees of the City of Oakridge was sent out with monthly water bills in this town of about 1,400 households. Don Hadley is one of the residents who got a little more than he bargained for with his most…