The mastermind of an identify theft ring who fled after being sentenced for his role in the scheme to steal personal and confidential credit report profiles of thousands of customers of Weichert Financial Services, Inc. pleaded guilty today to failure to surrender to federal prison. Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph J. Marra, Jr. announced that Ronald…
Category: Financial Sector
Man sentenced for micro-deposit scam
A 22-year old man was sentenced to 15 months in prison and restitution of $200,073.44 for fraud and related activity in connection with computers. After release from prison, Michael Largent will also face three years of strict restrictions on his use of computers and the Internet. According to Assistant United States Attorney Matthew D. Segal,…
Misdirected Spyware Infects Ohio Hospital
Bob McMillan reports: It was a bad idea from the start, but even as bad ideas go, this one went horribly wrong. A a 38-year-old Avon Lake, Ohio, man is set to plead guilty to federal charges after spyware he allegedly meant to install on the computer of a woman he’d had a relationship with…
Merrill Lynch sues three alleged phishers
Courthouse News reports: Three people posing as Merrill Lynch recruiters conned job seekers into revealing their bank account numbers by claiming they needed the information to make direct deposits into their accounts, Merrill Lynch claims in Federal Court. Merrill Lynch says the three people “hatched a nefarious plot” and created the domain email address “merrilllynchcareers.com”…
Heartland CEO: Credit Card Encryption Needed
Grant Gross of IDG News Service reports that in testimony before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee yesterday, Heartland Payment Systems CEO Robert Carr was hit with a question about how the payment processor could have been breached for over one year and yet not detected it: Senators asked Carr some pointed questions…
Former loan officer indicted for fraud and ID theft
A federal grand jury has indicted Emma Vigil, of McAllen, and charged her with five counts of bank fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft, United States Attorney Tim Johnson announced today. Vigil, 48, was arrested by FBI agents at her residence this morning and will be arraigned at a hearing this afternoon before…