Free Republic

Authorities think the group is using a database of stolen identity informationThe US Secret Service says it is investigating a Nigerian crime ring that has been using Americans’ stolen identities to file fraudulently for unemployment benefits, according to Krebs on Security. Authorities say members of the ring were able to exploit weak security measures within many states’ unemployment systems at a time when millions of Americans are applying for benefits. The agency sent a memo to field offices late last week which said the Nigeria-based ring appeared to be using a “substantial” database of stolen personal information, much of it...

In a 5-4 decision, a divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled that foreigners who are in America illegally can be prosecuted for the crime of identity theft. While the ruling seems like a no brainer, the court was divided because the case involved the Immigration Control and Reform Act, which says any information provided on an I-9 work form can’t be used by law enforcement in any way — and that includes as evidence in a criminal case. “The Immigration Control and Reform Act (IRCA) makes it a federal crime to lie on the I-9 work authorization form, while limiting how...

U.S. custom officials recently seized nearly 3,000 fake driver’s licenses—including one shipment going to a convicted child rapist —all of which were sent from China. The six intercepted shipments, heading to different individuals in the New York area, contained 2,909 counterfeit driver’s licenses and 3,123 blank card stocks used to make fake licenses, according to a Nov. 25 U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) press release. One of the shipments was bound for a convicted child rapist in the New York area, who officials suspect “entices minors with alcohol and counterfeit IDs before engaging in illicit activity,” CBP said. The...

A heads up for patriots. I received a notification from the offices of NC pols Richard Burr, Thom Tillis, and Virginia Foxx that they had received and would soon reply to correspondence from me. I had NOT (this time) created the correspondence. Turns out a group called “Seniors Speak Out” (SSO) and “Voter Voice” (VV) had forged my name and email address to the correspondence delivered to Burr, Tillis, and Foxx. I found the administrator of SSO “Nona Bear” and SSO’s blog, twitter, and Linkedin accounts. None of the direct message functions allowed contact. Turned out that VV had a...

DELAWARE COUNTY, Pa. (CBS) — A Delaware County man faces several charges after he allegedly posed as a “Good Morning America” producer and a New York Times reporter. District Attorney Kat Copeland made the announcement on Wednesday morning. Copeland said Nikolaos Tzima Hatziefstathiou, also known as “Nik the Hat,” has been charged with creating a false, racist government email, identity theft and tampering. Hatziefstathiou claimed he was the editor in chief for YC News. Copeland said it was all in an effort to obtain government documents. “From April 23 to April 25, Nik Hatziefstathiou, after creating fake email accounts posing...

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the National Security Agency still have not granted access to Republican lawmakers to review hundreds of unmasking requests made on Americans by Senior Obama Administration officials, SaraACarter.com has learned. Despite an order from President Trump more than a year ago, ranking member Rep. Devin Nunes, R-CA, on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence said his committee has been stymied in its investigation into the unmasking requests that rocked Washington D.C. when discovered in 2017. The ODNI and NSA were ordered by President Trump to make available the highly classified documents...

Looking for info/tips on how to prevent identity theft. As we all know, this is a constant threat with all the computer breaches and data being passed around. I recently looked in the mirror and realized I'm getting old, so I decided to tidy up some loose ends in my personal documentation to make things easier for my family if/when I do wind up croaking. Since I went through my whole life without an actual SS card or birth certificate (I do have all my passports dating back to when I was 14 until present, which is still valid). So,...

A Guatemalan man who is serving prison time for fatally striking a motorcyclist with his SUV and then fleeing had been using a fake identity, federal officials say. Sebastian Velasquez-Ramos had been using the alias Luis Velasquez-Ortiz in order to falsely claim he was a U.S. citizen, federal officials said. He also used a Social Security number that wasn't his and said he was a few years younger than he actually is. Officials think Velasquez-Ramos is his real name because that is the name in his immigration documents that were filed when he arrived in the United States. Velasquez-Ramos, 47,...

Nine people face felony charges in connection with a fraud scheme in which they offered cash or cigarettes to homeless people on skid row in downtown Los Angeles in exchange for hundreds of fake or forged signatures on ballot petitions and voter registration forms, prosecutors said. Los Angeles County prosecutors Tuesday announced the charges, which include circulating a petition with false names, voter fraud and registering a nonexistent person during election cycles in 2016 and this year. “They paid individuals to sign the names,” said Officer Deon Joseph, the senior lead officer on skid row, told The Times in September....

Capitol Police on October 3 arrested 27-year old congressional staffer Jackson Cosko for posting on Wikipedia the private addresses of three members of the Senate Judiciary Committee—what’s known as “doxxing” (a word derived from the shorthand for “document”). Cosko is facing serious charges that include illegally posting private information of public figures, witness tampering, threats, identity theft, and unlawful entry. In the mainstream media, Cosko is being portrayed as a hapless overzealous intern who didn’t even have the smarts to cover up his criminal act. His former boss— Rep. Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-Texas) has denied she knew anything about Cosko’s activities....

FULL TITLE: “Shout Your Abortion” Campaign Steals Pro-Life Woman’s Picture, Claims She Celebrated Three Abortions The radical Shout Your Abortion campaign recently used a young pro-life woman’s photo under a headline claiming she had three abortions and was proud of them. Molly Schaap, whose photo the pro-abortion website used, told the Canadian pro-life group Choice42 that she was “horrified” when she saw her photo attached to the pro-abortion campaign. Her smiling photo appeared under the headline “Shout Your Abortion – I am 23 and I have had 3 abortions. YES I HAVE!” The pro-abortion campaign urges women to share their...

Debbys’ Awan, & Robs’ magnificent nine. Free… snipp HTTP://DAILYCALLER.COM/2018/06/04/WASSERMAN-SCHULTZ-AWAN-ISLAMOPHOBE/ WASSERMAN SCHULTZ SCREAMED AT HOUSE OFFICIALS TO KILL HACKING PROBE, INTERVENED IN PAKISTANI CRIMINAL MATTER // snipp // https://www.fbi.gov/wanted/cyber/iranian-mabna-hackers On February 7, 2018, a grand jury sitting in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, indicted nine (non DWS) Iranian nationals for their alleged involvement in computer intrusion, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft offenses. //snipp// State-Sponsored Cyber Theft Nine (non DWS)Iranians Charged in Massive Hacking Campaign on Behalf of Iran Government https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/nine-iranians-charged-in-hacking-scheme-032318

Identity theft protection firm LifeLock — a company that’s built a name for itself based on the promise of helping consumers protect their identities online — may have actually exposed customers to additional attacks from ID thieves and phishers. The company just fixed a vulnerability on its site that allowed anyone with a Web browser to index email addresses associated with millions of customer accounts, or to unsubscribe users from all communications from the company. The upshot of this weakness is that cyber criminals could harvest the data and use it in targeted phishing campaigns that spoof LifeLock’s brand. Of...

PINE BLUFF, Ark. — Authorities say an Arkansas thief tried to pay for a meal using a credit card that had been stolen from the waitress herself days earlier. Police spokesman Lt. David De Foor said in a news release that officers arrested 21-year-old Shamon West on Tuesday at Shannon’s Restaurant in Pine Bluff. He said that, “having no desire to pay for the fellow’s meal,” waitress Flora Lunsford called to report that the man had tried paying for his meal with her stolen credit card. De Foor says officers found other items on West that had been in Lunsford’s...

It started with money, as it so often does in New York. A crisp $100 bill slipped across the smooth surface of the mid-century-inspired concierge desk at 11 Howard, the sleek new boutique hotel in Soho. Looking up, Neffatari Davis, the 25-year-old concierge, who goes by “Neff,” was surprised to see the cash had come from a young woman who seemed to be around her age. She had a heart-shaped face and pouty lips surrounded by a wild tangle of red hair, her eyes framed by incongruously chunky black glasses that Neff, an aspiring cinematographer with an eye for detail,...

There's an extremely serious dump of emails that came from Wikileaks exposing Hillary Clinton for ordering top US Diplomats to steal the DNA and passwords from United Nations leadership. The stunning email comes from the account of Hillary Clinton that used the address “hdr22@clintonemail.com”.

A 41-year-old Slidell woman faces up to 10 years in prison after being convicted of stealing another woman's identity via social media and using fake credentials to obtain a high paying job at the spice company founded by the late entrepreneur Al Copeland. Cindy T. White, who was found guilty this week by a St. Tammany Parish jury of theft of identity over $1,000, will be sentenced Tuesday (April 24) by Judge Scott Gardner of the 22nd Judicial District, North Shore District Attorney Warren Montgomery's office reported. During her opening statement in White's trial, Assistant District Attorney Casey Dieck described...

The Internal Revenue Service in 2011 through 2016 documented more than 1.3 million cases of identity theft perpetrated by illegal aliens whom the IRS had given Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITIN), which are only given to people who are ineligible to work in the United States or receive Social Security Numbers, according to information published by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA). However, in response to inquiries from CNSNews.com, the IRS could not say if it had referred even one of these cases for criminal prosecution. TIGTA, which is the inspector general responsible for overseeing the IRS, discovered...

Special counsel Robert Mueller's office announced on Friday that California resident Richard Pinedo pleaded guilty to one count of identity fraud on February 12, according to court documents. The plea deal's release came immediately after Mueller's office announced charges against 13 Russian nationals and three Russian entities accused of interfering in the 2016 US election by mounting an elaborate and multi-faceted social media influence operation meant to sow political discord during and after the race. According to the statement of offense, Pinedo ran a company called "Auction Essistance," which offered services meant to get around the security requirements set by...

Law Enforcement Dismantles Forum Used to Victimize Millions in all 50 States and Worldwide in One of the Largest Cyberfraud Enterprises Ever Prosecuted by the Department of Justice A federal indictment was unsealed today charging 36 individuals for their alleged roles in the Infraud Organization, an Internet-based cybercriminal enterprise engaged in the large-scale acquisition, sale, and dissemination of stolen identities, compromised debit and credit cards, personally identifiable information, financial and banking information, computer malware, and other contraband.