Biggest Identity Thief Ever Gets Put Away 293
Anonymous Brave Guy writes "Apparently computer helpdesk employee Philip Cummings had more than just a day job: he's just gone down for 14 years in the biggest identity theft case ever. Lots of fascinating nuggets of information in that story: apparently fake ID goes for as little as $60, and the total stolen over just a couple of years was somewhere in the $50m-100m range."
Just write it off I guess (Score:4, Interesting)
It would be better for consumers if (Score:5, Interesting)
but who says their competition is any safer?
It never ceases to amaze me... (Score:5, Interesting)
Of course, this sort of idiotic greed is what got them to start doing these bad things in the first place. I can't imagine trying to steal identities no matter how much the profit, myself.
Why is it? (Score:2, Interesting)
Fake ID (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:he will be fine (Score:1, Interesting)
Specifically the law can provide that you are not permitted to sell publishing rights of any sort. Hopefully this will apply, and if not, it would be nice to see 30,000 people take up a class action law suit to recoup their losses after he makes his supposed $100M.
Meanwhile, at George Mason University.... (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Just write it off I guess (Score:0, Interesting)
Re:Just write it off I guess (Score:5, Interesting)
The credit card is a token, a symbol to show that a given issuer is extending you credit, and will pay the merchant on demand. It is not the credit itself.
Far too many merchants do not check signatures and/or ask for identification.. and that's fine, because it's their gamble, not mine.
You can generally contest any payment made on your credit card, and the merchant will have to demonstrate that you authorized the transaction, or he's out of luck. Barring a signature, or stuff shipped to your address, or perhaps video evidence, there isn't much they can do.
Re:That should be good (Score:3, Interesting)
I'll bet that if the credit agencies were held legally responsable for the hearsay they recklessly spout about people they would do a much better job verifying the accuracy of their information. If you or I published a report based on hearsay that did significant damage to someone's reputation, we would end up in court. If we couldn't show darned good reasons why we believed the information we published, we would end up being ordered to pay restitution.
Financial institutions aren't much better. Identity theft wouldn't be a problem if they would either stop issuing credit based on easily obtained 'proof' of identity without even a phone conversation (and apparently wondering why you want your bills sent to another state), or at least admit that they really don't have any idea who they sent a credit card to.
Honestly, an adverse report from a credit card isn't all that credible these days. While it's unlikely that the report is malicious or fraudulant, it's really quite likely to be in error.
Why do you call this THEFT? (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm not condoning the behavior, I just don't like the wording.
Others countries dont have a credit report system (Score:2, Interesting)
And their system is working fine.
As long as you have a paycheck or a parent with a paycheck that can back you up you can usually rent an appartement.
Also French people use credit a lot less tahn American, and I guess thats better for everybody.
Re:Why? (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:No way (Score:5, Interesting)
population 16,000 in the middle of a state that's in the middle of nowhere.
And thus you know everything there is to know about meeting people in New York City.
Re:Fake ID (Score:3, Interesting)
Consider four data points. First, would it be legal if you deposited a check with some nice hefty figure on the front, but a "not a valid check do not accept" notice on the back? Or do you think you'll get a hefty fine from your bank (at best)? People have tried this, it's not a theoretical question.
Second, remember the story a while back about somebody passing an obviously fake $200 bill? It didn't matter that the bill had a picture of Daffy Duck (or whatever), they passed it as US currency and the feds hit them with federal counterfeiting charges.
Third, every so often some teens get the bright idea of driving around and shooting people with bb or paint guns. Just a joke, right? Nope - they find themselves facing felony "assault with a deadly weapon" charges because their victims thought they were being shot by a real gun.
The extreme form of this are idiots who do holdups with fake guns. Ha ha ha - they still get a mandatory 5 or 10 year extension for possessing a firearm during the commission of a felony. I've even heard of a case where somebody got that extension for the "finger in your coat pocket" trick.
Finally there's the guys who sell flour to undercover narcs. It's legal to sell flour, right? Wrong - if they claim they're selling you cocaine then it's attempt to distribute. The fact that they knew it was flour is legally irrelevant.
Re:Why? (Score:2, Interesting)
It is now used as a drivers licence # in many states, if you don't specificly request that the Dept. of Revenue not use it. This means that evey time you buy a bottle of wine, or cash a check, the cashier can ask to see it, or else you don't get what you are buying.