A former branch manager for Randstad North America, an international staffing firm in Sandy Springs, Georgia, has been sentenced to serve 5 years, 1 month in federal prison on charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. In addition, she has been ordered to pay $286,388.37 in restitution. Cynthia Whitehead, 44, of Atlanta, Georgia, was…
Category: ID Theft
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…
Criminal charges in ID theft scheme targeting DUI offenders
Dennis C. Pfannenschmidt, United States Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, announced that Donald E. Stoner, age 37, of Lancaster County was charged with conspiracy to commit identification fraud in connection with a scheme targeting DUI offenders in Lancaster and York Counties. Also filed was a plea agreement indicating that Stoner has agreed to…
Houston police bust large ID theft ring
Peggy O’Hare reports: Police have busted a Houston-based identity theft ring that victimized 457 people and 83 businesses scattered across 25 states, investigators announced today. The scheme worked by stealing people’s personal checks, then looking up their driver’s license numbers in an on-line database. Theft ring participants would then use fake Texas driver’s licenses featuring…
UK: Hackers steal £1m in online tax scam
Stephen Condron and Christopher Leake report: Police are investigating how criminals managed to steal £1million from the taxman by accessing a Government computer system and granting themselves rebates. The thieves filed returns online using the passwords of genuine self-assessment taxpayers – then diverted the money to bogus accounts. The sting prompted concern yesterday that the…
Man gets 15 years for leading ID-theft ring
Adam Lynn reports: Convicted identity thief Larry Alan Hayes asked a judge for a second chance. What Hayes really wanted was an eighth one, and Pierce County Superior Court pro-tem Judge Eric Schmidt wasn’t inclined to give it to him. […] A jury in June convicted the 41-year-old man of leading organized crime, six counts…