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,…
Category: Of Note
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…
Express Scripts updates their breach report
When Express Scripts reported receiving an extortion attempt late last year, its potential impact was immediately evident as the company handles prescription benefits for tens of millions of people. Express scripts has now updated its breach report. In a letter to the New Hampshire Attorney General dated September 14, their Vice-President and Deputy General Counsel,…
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”…
Postal inspectors uncover MassMutual customer data during ID theft investigation
Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (“MassMutual”) recently discovered that an insider had printouts of customer data that might have been used for fraudulent purposes. In a notification letter [pdf] to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office dated September 8, MassMutual Financial Group reported that they had been advised on August 3 by the U.S. Postal…
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…