ConsumerReports.org outlines three steps people can to take to protect account data from getting into the wrong hands. Thieves using a technique known as skimming, set up equipment that captures magnetic stripe and keypad information when consumers input their PIN at ATM machines, gas pumps, restaurants, or retailers.
Cisco Security Intelligence Operations announces the release of the Cisco 2009 Annual Security Report. The updated report includes information about 2009 global threats and trends, as well as security recommendations for 2010. Among the highlights, the report notes online criminals have taken advantage of the large social media following, exploiting users’ willingness to respond to messages that are supposedly from people they know and trust.
Network World reports on a story by Robert McMillan, IDG News Service, about an FBI undercover investigation of a hacker web site called DarkMarket. DarkMarket was what’s known as a “carder” site. Like an eBay for criminals, it was where identity thieves could buy and sell stolen credit card numbers, online identities and the tools to make fake credit cards.
SpendOnLife.com provides a brief overview and description of each type of identity theft, based on Federal Trade Commission complaint data. The web site says ID theft can happen to anyone, and it can come in all shapes and sizes. For example, your credit card digits could be stolen and used to make online purchases; a thief could impersonate you to open up a loan in your name; a felon could commit a crime and pretend to be you when caught; or someone could use your personal information to apply for a job.
The Los Angeles Times reports that a man pleaded guilty to orchestrating a bank fraud scheme from behind bars in a California state prison and was sentenced today to eight years in federal custody. Morocco Curry, 37, also known as Monica Dupree, was serving a three-year sentence at Centinela prison in Imperial after pleading guilty to bank fraud and identity theft charges in state court. While doing his time at Centinela, Curry obtained credit card numbers and other information on at least four victims, prosecutors said. Curry then made three-way telephone calls to conspirators outside the prison, and they contacted credit card issuers and asked them to send replacement credit cards. Credit card companies lost more than $139,000 from the scheme, according to prosecutors.
KOMO TV in Seattle reports A federal grand jury has indicted four people accused of paying insiders at a courthouse and a local fast-food joint to steal dozens of victims’ debit or credit card numbers, then fraudulently using the information to purchase hundreds of thousand dollars’ worth of gift cards.
The Baltimore office of the FBI issued a press release stating U.S. District Judge Catherine C. Blake sentenced Jerome Anthony Malecki, age 56, of Fallston, Maryland, today to 12 months and one day in prison, followed by six months of home confinement and $140,729 restitution for conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
