Identity Theft/Fraud

There are several reasons why identity thieves are leaving credit card fraud behind and going for auto finance fraud. Basically, chips in credit cards have made it more difficult to conduct fraudulent transactions, auto finance fraud is low-hanging fruit and identity thieves are lazy....

Reno, Nevada is known as “The Biggest Little City in the World” and is famous for its hotels and casinos. More recently, it’s known for a resident who operated an elaborate identity theft fraud scheme that involved creating and using more than 8,000 fraudulent...

The Bureau of Justice Statistics reports some pretty dismal statistics regarding recidivism, or the tendency for a convicted criminal to commit another crime. This report, which documents repeat offender statistics for state prisoners released in 2005 across 30 states, shows that they were arrested...

There are many benefits to joining a club. Club membership can open up new avenues for meeting new people, learning new skills, and advancing careers. Today, we learn about a woman from Mount Pleasant, South Carolina who was a member of the “Fraudster Club”...

Each year millions of people fall victim to identity thieves, and the problem is only getting worse. With identity theft rates setting new records year after year, it is no wonder that the courts do not take these cases lightly. Today’s “Fraud of the...

The Rx symbol is found on doctor’s prescription pads, as well as on signs in pharmacies. (Here’s your medical lesson for the day: Rx is derived from the Latin word “recipe,” which means “take”.) A Mount Holly, North Carolina physician was definitely “on the...

The Internet is full of links to crimes carried out in ridiculous disguises. Some of my favorites include two men who used a permanent marker to draw mustaches and beards on their faces; the ‘Duct Tape Bandit,’ who wrapped his head in, you guessed...

A recent study suggests that 25 percent of Bitcoin users are associated with illegal activity. Today’s fraudster from Illinois fits into that category. He committed identity theft fraud by purchasing the identities of people in 38 states from the dark web using Bitcoin, then...

When millions of records containing personal data for current and former federal employees were stolen through the infamous U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) breach in 2015, no one could have possibly anticipated the fall out, other than to predict it would be bad....

Fraudsters are using increasingly sophisticated tactics to manipulate personal details about others for personal gain. (Their modus operandi is all about enjoying life at the expense of their victims.) An identity thief from Jacksonville, Florida took a three-year long joyride with the personal identification...