Feds charge 3 men with identity theft

[InfoSec News <isn () c4i org>]

http://news.com.com/2100-1023-971196.html?tag=fd_top

By Paul Festa 
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
November 25, 2002

Calling it the largest such bust ever, the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan
and the FBI apprehended an alleged ring of identity thieves, accusing
three men of stealing tens of thousands of credit reports.

The ring is alleged to have operated over a period of three years,
suspected of pilfering credit reports from the three major commercial
credit reporting agencies and using that information to siphon funds
from bank accounts and make fraudulent purchases. Authorities have
accounted for $2.7 million in losses so far.

At the center of the scheme as outlined Monday by Justice Department
and FBI officials is a help-desk employee of Teledata Communications
(TCI), a company in Bay Shore, N.Y., that lets banks and other lenders
access credit histories compiled by Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.

The TCI employee, Philip Cummings, stands accused of wire fraud and
conspiracy in filching lenders' passwords and subscriber codes that
let a network of identity thieves obtain tens of thousands of credit
reports of more than 30,000 individuals.

TCI declined to comment.

The government has fingered two other defendants, Linus Baptiste and
Hakeem Mohammed, in related cases.

"The defendants took advantage of an insider's access to sensitive
information in much the same way that a gang of thieves might get the
combination to the bank vault from an insider," Kevin Donovan,
assistant director in charge of the FBI's New York field office, said
in a statement. "But the potential windfall was probably far greater
than the contents of a bank vault, and using 2lst century technology,
they didn't even need a getaway car. Using the same technology, we
determined what was done and who did it, proving that technology is a
double-edged sword."

Experts on identity theft said the existence of such a ring was the
natural by-product of the existing system of computerized credit
information.

"This situation was a problem waiting to happen," said Linda Foley,
executive director of the Identity Theft Resource Center in San Diego.  
"We know that there are many cases of computer breaches where
information (is stolen) leading to identity theft."

Experts also blamed TCI and the credit agencies for their roles in the
identity theft problem.

"How much screening did (Cummings) go through before being hired for
the help desk?" Foley said.

A Gartner analyst pointed out the problem of too many low-level
employees having access to consumers' personal information.

"The fact that lower-tier employees, people who don't have as high a
degree of accountability, have access to such information is a
problem, and it's one we see on a regular basis," Gartner analyst Doug
Barbin said.

Among the TCI clients whose passwords and subscribers codes the
identity thieves used are Ford Motor Credit's Grand Rapids, Mich.,
branch; Washington Mutual Bank in St. Augustine, Fla.; Washington
Mutual Finance in Crossville, Tenn.; Dollar Bank in Cleveland; and
Central Texas Energy Supply.

The Justice Department and FBI urged people who suspected they were
victims of identity theft to contact the Federal Trade Commission at
1-877-ID THEFT (1-877-428-4338) or through the commission's Web site.



-
ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org

To unsubscribe email majordomo () attrition org with 'unsubscribe isn'
in the BODY of the mail.