A Ripe Target For Identity Thieves: Prisoners on Death Row 54
Identity thieves have found an insidious target: death row inmates. A SentiLink report published this week reveals scammers are stealing identities of Texas prisoners awaiting execution to orchestrate "bust-out" fraud schemes -- patiently building credit before disappearing with up to $100,000.
Nearly 10% of Texas' 172 death row inmates have fallen victim. The operation, active since March 2023, exploits inmates' isolation from financial communications. "They wouldn't receive text or email alerts from a financial institution," said Robin Maher of the Death Penalty Information Center.
Beyond opening credit accounts, NBC reports, fraudsters have registered fake businesses using inmates' identities, including a landscaping company created under Ronald Haskell's name -- a man imprisoned since 2014 for killing six people. TransUnion estimates bust-out scams now cost banks $1 billion annually.
Nearly 10% of Texas' 172 death row inmates have fallen victim. The operation, active since March 2023, exploits inmates' isolation from financial communications. "They wouldn't receive text or email alerts from a financial institution," said Robin Maher of the Death Penalty Information Center.
Beyond opening credit accounts, NBC reports, fraudsters have registered fake businesses using inmates' identities, including a landscaping company created under Ronald Haskell's name -- a man imprisoned since 2014 for killing six people. TransUnion estimates bust-out scams now cost banks $1 billion annually.
Re: The death row inmates are a victim of the stat (Score:5, Insightful)
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You should get a real argument.
Your point about error rate is a fair one, but by legal definition an execution isn't murder and it has not been considered "cruel and unusual" punishment. The usual arguments that execution is cruel or unusual hinge on trying to make execution entirely pain- and even stress-free for the convict, which is a stupid goal considering that it's a punishment.
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by legal definition an execution isn't murder and it has not been considered "cruel and unusual" punishment
Only by the legal definition of barbaric societies like Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Iran, China, Zimbabwe, Botswana, the US, Japan.
considering that it's a punishment.
It isn't a punishment, it is an act of revenge. If it were a punishment, it would need to be an effective deterrent and allow for rehabilitation.
Death sentence is an ineffective deterrent and precludes rehabilitation.
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I feel this is an overly dogmatic way of looking at this, which these days on Slashdot is not at all unusual. If you end up making patently ridiculous statements like this:
Only by the legal definition of barbaric societies like ... the US, Japan.
it's a hint that maybe some more thinking may be needed here.
Death sentence is an ineffective deterrent and precludes rehabilitation.
I don't think it's possible to have any sort of proof whether something is an effective deterrant or not. Maybe if you've introduced this deterrant where it wasn't there before and soon after you saw a dramatic reduction in the thing you're trying to deter (or you didn't), but
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it's a hint that maybe some more thinking may be needed here.
How so?
I don't think it's possible to have any sort of proof whether something is an effective deterrant or not.
Then it is pointless to call something a "punishment", as deterrence is the key concept behind it.
As for rehabilitation, not everyone can be rehabilitated.
Hence the life imprisonment.
But I can definitely understand the other side of the argument.
Yes, it is very primitive and doesn't take a lot to understand it.
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I don't think it's possible to have any sort of proof whether something is an effective deterrant or not.
Recent data says abolition of death penalty does not lead to a change in murder rates.
"The death penalty appears to make no measurable contribution to police safety" https://www.criminallegalnews.... [criminallegalnews.org]
"the Public and Police are Safer in States with No Death Penalty" https://dppolicy.substack.com/... [substack.com]
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That's interesting, but like I said not necessarily conclusive. The fact that states with death penalty have more crime is likely reverse causation - in places where there's more crime the public are more likely to demand harsher punishments, including the death penalty. If you've been personally affected by crime you'll probably feel angrier about it. The fact that after the abolition the crime rates didn't go up is more interesting, but again, this could be because it coincided with an overall economic up
Re: The death row inmates are a victim of the sta (Score:1)
From what I understand, itâ(TM)s cheaper to lock them up and throw away the key compared to death row as there are automated appeal systems that keep bringing up before the courts on death row. So it costs more for death penalty due to the constant appeal process included in the sentences that are automatically triggered on behalf of the convicted. So the admin costs is higher than throwing away the key where they just forget they existed.
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If it was about revenge we'd be doing things like we did them in the 15th century, skinning people alive and what not. The death penalty is NOT about revenge, it is about a mixture of deterrence and closure.
I agree with your assessment of the death penalty as it is currently practice in a lot of ways. I think it way way over used. I think the errors and bias in our legal process make its finality far to problematic, in the general case of application ... however..
I do think it has a place in deterrence wi
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I don't think there was anything immoral about killing Osama Bin Laden,
And in much the same way Osama Bin Laden didn't think there was anything immoral about killing those people on the planes and in the buildings.
Re: The death row inmates are a victim of the sta (Score:1)
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Most of the people who support the death penalty see it as retributive justice. i.e. revenge even if they won't put it in those terms. For example, "closure". Even if you're trying to pretty it up, much of what you want is "he did the crime and now he's done the time". tit for tat. Revenge.
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Well they are looking at it wrong. There is not earthly penalty that we can apply to a single individual mass murderer that would be an eye for an eye.
Again if revenge was truly the object we might try to satisfy ourselves by 'torturing' them to death intentionally. We could for example crucify them; but we don't. We go to great lengths to minimize their suffering, even if that sometimes fails.
It is not 'prettying it up' death is very final and people viscerally understand it. Society should not have be h
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I don't murder people and don't want my government to, either. If you're murdering people, I hope you are caught and punished to the full extent of the law.
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So, Nazi Germany... ahem... executing... 6 million Jews was perfectly legal and you don't have a problem with that?
I mean, all those Jews in concentration camps were basically all on death row, right?
Down-vote by hypocrites in 3... 2... 1...
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The difference is they were not on death row as part of some just punishment for their crimes; unless you are counting the imagined crimes the Nazis ascribed to them, and even then we'd be in the space of punishing for the sins of the father...
You going to argue we were wrong to execute the Nazi leadership? We won they lost, sometimes might makes right, sometimes the All Mighty really is on your side.
Re: The death row inmates are a victim of the sta (Score:1)
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If you want to kill someone and go to prison for six years, then you should have killed someone in Denmark.
Why go there? That sounds harsh. The USA has much lower prison punishments for manslaughter (Denmark makes no legal distinction between manslaughter and 1st degree murder, and 5 years jail is typically given to charges which would be considered manslaughter in the USA). That said the Denmark maximum murder sentence of life in jail without parole is lower than the death penalty.
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Oh, shut up already. This article is about identity theft, not to give you yet another chance to moan about the death penalty. Way above your pay grade, mate.
Re: The death row inmates are a victim of the sta (Score:2)
Nonsense.
I agree that if there's doubt, no, capital punishment shouldn't be used. But when it's obvious? When a dude is caught actively shooting up a school it something? Just put a bullet in his brain and be done with it.
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But when it's obvious?
Depends on your definition of "obvious". Is any of these cases "obvious"? How do you tell?
https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/p... [deathpenaltyinfo.org]
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Why do liberals and leftists have such deep, deep affection for semantic arguments?
I *literally* in my post gave you an example.
Here's another. https://www.cnn.com/2015/08/26... [cnn.com]
I guess it's ironic that you don't understand what the word "obvious" means?
Here's ELI5 explanation:
No, a black man arrested several days after a crime was committed based on hearsay evidence from 3 people who don't want to be identified and one guy who's the last remaining klan member in his country: no, this is not fucking "obviou
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liberals and leftists
Wow, that's a powerful argument.
I *literally* in my post gave you an example.
And I gave you a bunch of "obvious" examples that turned out anything but. Since murdering an innocent is irreversible, the onus is on you to prove that "obvious" will always correct. Which is, of course, impossible.
Or if you're still stupid:
Wow, another powerful argument :)
You must be a truly stable genius.
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Death penalty is murder, it is an unusual and cruel punishment and an irreversible violation of the most basic human right.
Given the number of wrong sentences, it is unconscionable.
It's worse than that. It's often a violent fantasy. Like killing someone in self defence*. Used by people who secretly enjoy seeing other suffer and causing suffering but are too meek to do it for real. The kind of person who swears they'd "execute them personally" which of course means behind 3 inches of safety glass and a cadre of armed guards.
So people who support the death penalty are more often than not engaging in such fantasies. It is cruel (unsual depends on your definition), inhuman and definate
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It's worse than that. It's often a violent fantasy. Like killing someone in self defence*. Used by people who secretly enjoy seeing other suffer and causing suffering but are too meek to do it for real. The kind of person who swears they'd "execute them personally" which of course means behind 3 inches of safety glass and a cadre of armed guards.
The people who kill in self defense usually aren't actually defending anything. They are far right wing lunatics that dream and fantasize about killing minorities. They kill first and work backwards into a self defense plea.
Kyle Rittenhouse, Daniel Penny, Daniel Perry, Timothy McVeigh, Pablo Lyle, Michael Dunn, Michael Drejka, George Zimmerman, etc. etc. etc.
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Capital punishment is underutilized. Its use need to be expanded dramatically.
Victim? (Score:3)
I am curious, though. Do death row inmates tend to have excellent credit ratings? What idiot institutions lend money under these circumstances?
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If you use the identity of someone on death row then consider yourself being in the queue.
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Victim seem to infer some harrm, which I doubt any of these inmates feel.
Under your rationale, you could rape someone in coma. Or steal from a very rich person.
In the case of death row inmates:
* they could get out: found innocent (it wouldn't be the first time this happens); or pardoned.
* they could die, in which case their heirs are harmed.
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No, I'm not being 100% serious, but... (Score:3)
So the scammers are targeting murderers and banks to enrich themselves. Seems kind-a like a victimless crime, n'est-ce pas!
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Not victimless - the banks will reclaim the costs from the other customers.
If I exceed the speed limit for a while on an empty road and nobody is hurt, then it's a victimless crime aside from the extra fuel and wear on my vehicle.
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But how much can they reclaim before they sacrifice their competitive position with respect to other banks? We don't know from the summary, but I wouldn't be surprised if some banks are hit worse than others.
Besides, it's just too appealing to lump these things together. If we could roll in the US health insurance industry somehow, I'd be truly delighted.
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Insurances spreads out the cost over the banks.
If one specific bank is targeted then it could reclaim money by selling off assets. Those assets are usually loans.
Ultimately the bank could be bought up by a competitor.
In the end the costs ends up on the interest rates on loans and that's one of the reason for the interest gap between loan and savings accounts.
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They either have to reclaim the money or take it as a loss. Either way, "they sacrifice their competitive position with respect to other banks".
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Propagandized.
This isn't identity theft (Score:3)
If it were they would be on death row with the inmate.
This is bank fraud. Banks are so eager that they skip the due diligence. We need to get back to calling this what it really is and stop allowing banks to create problems for us. There is no such thing as identity theft.
Due diligence (Score:2)
Banks should do some due diligence and they wouldn't be caught out so often by fraudsters. More background checks, more random audits, and more in-person interviews with proof of identity / address when people ask for loans, lines of credit or whatever. They won't catch every fraudster but they'll catch more and that would serve as a deterrent. And if particular groups of people are falling victim to identity theft, then maybe the banks should go to the same well - pull the names and dates of birth of these
credit fraud (Score:2)
This is a bank problem (Score:2)
Sounds like this is a bank problem. Let them eat the cost.
Fix your user onboarding and KYC processes before you go whining about the risks of issuing predatory debt to people.
Law should mandate a credit freeze for inmates (Score:2)
Same for anyone who is under 18.
Same for many who are elderly.