identity theft

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'Bonnie' Joins 'Clyde' in ID Theft Guilty Plea

High-profile Philly swindler admits to her part of scheme

(Newser) - Jocelyn Kirsch, half of the Philadelphia couple once dubbed the “Bonnie and Clyde of Identity Theft,” followed her ex-boyfriend’s lead and pleaded guilty today, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. The 22-year-old ex-Drexel student faces a mandatory minimum of 2 years in federal prison for her part in the...

Justice Breyer's Records Leaked in File-Sharing Snafu

Investment firm staffer leaked data with music

(Newser) - An employee at an investment firm made much more than music available when he used a company computer to access the file-sharing site Limewire, reports the Washington Post. He also made it possible for users to access records of 2,000 of the firm's clients—including Supreme Court Justice Stephen...

Hands Bound, States Find Ways to Attack Immigration

Identity theft, other laws used to arrest illegals

(Newser) - You hear a lot less Spanish these days in Milton, Fla. Hispanic immigrants fled the panhandle town after local police raided more than a dozen businesses, arresting at least 27 illegals. Technically, only federal agents can enforce immigration law, but cops around the country have found ways around that problem,...

Surfers Beware: Danger Could Lurk at .hk, .cn

Those domains most likely to house ill intent, security study finds

(Newser) - A study by antivirus software firm McAfee warns Web surfers to be cautious of sites on certain domains, the AP reports, with corner-cutting registration companies often skipping security precautions. The domains .hk, .cn and .info were found to be riskiest.

Half of Philly ID-Theft Couple Pleads Guilty

Modern 'Bonnie and Clyde' stole $116K for trips and big buys

(Newser) - The male half of the couple labeled the Bonnie and Clyde of identity theft pleaded guilty yesterday to scams worth some $116,000, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Edward Anderton, 25, and his girlfriend, Jocelyn Kirsch, 22, used the money for big purchases and vacations. He faces 5 years in prison.

Illegal Immigration Spurs Identity Theft
Illegal Immigration
Spurs Identity Theft
ANALYSIS
May 18, 2008 6:15 PM CDT

Illegal Immigration Spurs Identity Theft

But many federal agencies aren't doing enough, City Journal says

(Newser) - Identity theft and illegal immigration are not only keeping cops busy, they're often linked, Steven Malanga writes in City Journal. Illegals are known to swipe US workers' data to obtain jobs or commit crimes, and the top five states for identity theft have large immigrant populations. But efforts to stop...

Massive Data Theft Breached 'Secure' Network
Massive Data Theft Breached 'Secure' Network
UPDATED
Mar 31, 2008 11:23 AM CDT

Massive Data Theft Breached 'Secure' Network

Hacked supermarket chain sent data over cable, not wireless

(Newser) - High-tech thieves were able to penetrate what experts called an especially secure computer network when they stole 4.2 million credit and debit card numbers from the Hannaford and Sweetbay grocery chains. Unlike stores that send data over wireless networks, the supermarkets used a theoretically less porous fiber-optic cable.

Patients' Info Swiped Along With Laptop

Unencrypted data on 2,500 government study subjects missing

(Newser) - A government laptop loaded with personal medical info on thousands of patients just “fell through the cracks,” a top exec with an NIH subsidiary says. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute machine was stolen Feb. 23, apparently at random, from an employee’s car trunk. None of...

Supermarket Breach Exposes 4M Credit Cards

Hannaford grocery stores report 1,800 related fraud cases

(Newser) - A data security breach at Hannaford, an East Coast supermarket chain, has exposed the credit card information of 4.2 million customers and resulted in 1,800 cases of fraud so far, the Boston Globe reports. The breach, which went undetected for three months, is one of the largest ever,...

Mortgage Crisis a Boon to ID Thieves

As mortgage companies fail, confidential info gets tossed, not shredded

(Newser) - Homeowners whose lenders have been caught by the subprime mortgage debacle may face increased risks of becoming victims of identity theft, reports MSNBC. Borrowers at some mortgage companies that have gone out of business are finding that their confidential records—income statements, credit cards and social security numbers—get tossed...

Man Kills Stranger, Fakes Own Death

Suspect commits suicide as cops close in; wife under scrutiny

(Newser) - A Chicago-area construction boss trying to work a life-insurance scam killed another man, used the body to fake his own death, then killed himself as police converged, the Chicago Tribune reports. Authorities are now looking at whether the killer and his wife, who had email contact after his “death,...

Sprint, AT&T, BofA Faves of Identity Thieves

Half of all complaints in 2006 months came from 25 companies

(Newser) - Bank of America led as a target for identity thieves in a 2006 sample of FTC complaints, followed closely by AT&T and Sprint. The survey by Berkeley researchers found that half of all complaints involved 25 organizations, mainly banks and telecom companies, reports PC World. There were 88,000...

My Teacher's Maiden Ice Cream Flavor? Huh?
My Teacher's Maiden Ice Cream Flavor? Huh?
OPINION
Jan 30, 2008 12:49 PM CST

My Teacher's Maiden Ice Cream Flavor? Huh?

Slate scribe pans online security queries

(Newser) - Odds are good that your bank has, at some point, asked for your mother’s maiden name. Security questions are as ubiquitous, Slate’s Josh Levin writes, as they are absurd. Coming up with easy-to-remember, but hard-to-guess, questions is nearly impossible. Paris Hilton’s account, for example, was hacked when...

Congressional Report Blames TSA for Botched Website

Site lacked basic security features

(Newser) - The TSA awarded a website design and maintenance contract to a firm with whom an administration official had close personal and professional ties, ComputerWorld reports. The site, meant to handle individual requests to have names removed from the TSA’s no-fly list, lacked even rudimentary encryption mechanisms and was not...

Hackers Steal Porn Surfers' Contact Info

Effort to harvest addresses means trouble for sex industry

(Newser) - Bad news, porn lovers (you can admit it): Hackers have broken into a service used by hundreds of porn sites, stealing the personal info of potentially tens of thousands of porn enthusiasts, the Washington Post reports. It appears hackers wanted only e-mail addresses for spam use, but the leak could...

Online Scammer Impersonates US Colonel

Details taken from website for military families

(Newser) - British woman Wendy McKay had been enjoying her romantic online chats with a handsome US colonel deployed to Iraq, but alarm bells started ringing when the "colonel" suddenly needed thousands of dollars sent to Ghana, the Military Times reports. A con man had stolen the real colonel's identity and...

Critics Cry 'Privacy' Over Passport Cards

US approves wireless ID that may spark identity theft

(Newser) - New wireless passport cards will make it easier for Americans to cross borders between Mexico, Canada, and the Caribbean—but privacy groups worry that thieves will be pinching personal data off the new ID, the AP reports. One critic called the cards "inherently insecure;" officials say safeguards are...

ID Theft Funded Philly Couple's Jaunts to Paris, Hawaii

Pair reaped $100K from condo neighbors

(Newser) - The Philadelphia couple dubbed the Bonnie and Clyde of identity theft left jail yesterday after their parents posted a hefty bail. Jocelyn Kirsch, 22, and Edward Anderton, 25, went on a shopping, dining, and vacationing spree—documented in countless photographs—with more than $100,000 they netted by stealing their...

Networking Teens Risk Identity Theft

UK study says millions share data too casually with strangers

(Newser) - Millions of young users of social networking sites are risking identity theft because of information shared online, warns a UK study reported in the Independent today. Britain's privacy watchdog concludes that 4.5 million web users from 14 to 21 years old could be vulnerable to identity fraud, and young...

Stores Expose Customer Credit Card, Personal Data to Hackers

Major retailers neglect anti-theft encryption

(Newser) - Major US and European retailers routinely transmit sensitive data, including customer credit card and Social Security numbers, over wireless networks wide open to hackers. A recent undercover study by a wireless data security firm found half of stores in major shopping areas either exchanged data without anti-hacking encryption or used...

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