From EPIC.org: EPIC filed a friend of the court brief in the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit today, urging the judges to uphold a Vermont law that regulates companies that sell or use prescriber-identifiable data for marketing. Several data-mining companies challenged the law after it was upheld by a district court. EPIC’s amicus…
Former inmate pleads guilty to hacking prison computer
A former prisoner of the Plymouth County Correctional Facility pled guilty today in federal court to intentionally damaging the prison’s computer network while he was an inmate. Acting United States Attorney Michael K. Loucks and Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation – Boston Field Division, announced that Francis…
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…
Trial set in botnet hacking conspiracy
Thomas James Frederick Smith, 21, and David Anthony Edwards, 20, have been charged in a federal indictment with conspiring to intentionally cause damage to a protected computer and commit computer fraud. The indictment was announced U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Edwards, of Mesquite, Texas, and Smith, most recently of…
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”…