Minna Sugimoto reports: A Kailua woman accused of going on shopping sprees after stealing the identities of nearly 50 people pleaded guilty to 140 financial fraud charges Wednesday. With sunglasses hanging from her prison jumpsuit, a former beauty queen took center stage to admit that she led a lavish lifestyle at the expense of nearly…
Category: ID Theft
Running an ID theft ring from inside prison adds 14 years to sentence
A man who lead an identity-theft ring that ran up a quarter-million dollars worth of charges from inside a federal prison – and who continued the criminal activity even after pleading guilty to the charges – as sentenced to more than 14 years in prison, Steven M. Dettelbach, United States Attorney for the Northern District…
SC: Restaurant Customers’ Credit Card Info Stolen
A popular Rock Hill restaurant is the one common thread in a growing number of credit card fraud cases. … So far, more than 30 patrons have reported unexplained charges on their credit cards from states around the Southeast. The victims all ate at Michael’s Rock Hill Grille from Sept. 16 through Nov. 2, with…
Your personal data in the wrong hands
Fabio Assolini of Kaspersky writes: What happens when all of your personal data is readily available for use by a cybercriminal? Last November we published a blog talking about Brazilian phishing attacks that displayed the victims’ CPF numbers – the Natural Persons Register, the equivalent of a Social Security Number used by the Brazilian government to…
(update) ID Thefts On The Rise In Butte
Stephanie Barish of NBC provides an update on an as yet unexplained rash of card fraud in Butte, Montana: Swipe and beware. The number of identity thefts in Butte are on the rise. In fact, a staggering 175 people are now part of the scam. “We are cooperating with the Secret Service in investigating the…
GBI investigates police data theft
Jim Wallace reports for WALB in Georgia: A Dougherty County Sheriff’s deputy is accused of stealing the identity of an inmate. Sheriff Kevin Sproul says there could be more people involved in the crime and possibly more victims. The GBI [Georgia Bureau of Investigation] continues to investigate. Dougherty County Sheriff’s Deputy Charles Tharpe, a nearly…