McAfee Research Blog reports that ASmallWorld, a social networking site for jetsetters received an extortion demand: Yesterday the French police force (OCLCTIC), accompanied by FBI agents, arrested two French residents. They were suspected of hacking [ASmallWorld] social-network platform dedicated to the worldwide upper crust. They allegedly attempted to extort US$1 million from the webmasters to…
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For your illiterate criminals file
Associated Press provides this little reminder on the importance of good grammar and spelling: Bad grammar and spelling tripped up a man who was trying to steal Social Security numbers and other information from jobseekers by impersonating West Virginia’s governor, police said. Matthew Don Reed of Hinton is being held on $10,000 bond on charges…
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,…
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…
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”…
Phisher who victimized tens of thousands pleads guilty
Tien Truong (“Tim”) Nguyen, 30, of Sacramento, pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiracy, access device fraud, aggravated identity theft, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The case began in 2007 when Nguyen was indicted (pdf) for being part of a phishing scheme ring that victimized tens of thousands of individuals between October 15,…