A State Department employee was sentenced today to 12 months of probation for illegally accessing more than 60 confidential passport application files, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division announced. Debra Sue Brown, 47, of Oxon Hill, Md., was also ordered by U.S. Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola in the District of…
Category: U.S.
Woman in Valley Forge theft ring sentenced
Mary Pat Flaherty and Martin Weil report: Thousands of dollars in unauthorized withdrawals were made from bank accounts in the Washington area after a skimming device was attached to an ATM in Alexandria, authorities said. The device, which captures bank card information, was spotted Feb. 28 at a Wachovia branch in the 3600 block of…
ID theft scam: 2 accused of stealing $289K in tax refunds
Serena Daniels reports: Two women pocketed nearly $300,000 in state and federal tax returns after stealing the identities of more than 60 customers of an Indiana H & R Block branch, federal prosecutors say. The alleged scheme was uncovered after Rosetta Buchanan, 35, and Francesca Foster, 32 — an H & R Block worker —…
(follow-up) Kansas Man Pleads Guilty to Stealing Identities in Fraud Scheme
As a follow-up to a breach incident previously reported on this site, Kansas City InfoZine reports that: Robert Leroy Maxwell, 45, has pleaded guilty to identity theft and other charges in a fraud scheme that cost banks and businesses in Kansas City, Kan., Olathe and elsewhere a total of more than $30,000. Maxwell pleaded guilty…
Organized Crooks Hit NJ Town, Ark. Utility
Brian Krebs reports: An Arkansas public water utility and a New Jersey town are the latest victims of an organized cyber crime gang that is stealing tens of millions of dollars from small to mid-sized organizations via online bank theft. On Thursday, officials in Egg Harbor Township, N.J. acknowledged that a sizable amount of money…
State Agency ID Theft May Affect 11,000
The following news report on a breach involving a Connecticut state agency seems to be equating theft of PII with identity theft, a problem we’ve seen all too many times, although there may be cases of ID theft associated with this breach. On Monday, Office of Policy Management Secretary Robert Genuario announced that as many…