WHAT A HEEL: You Can’t Borrow Against What You Don’t Own
Federal authorities have busted up a NJ-based global identity theft ring that zeroed in on people with unused home-equity credit accounts via deeds, mortgages and other public records, and then called banks and credit unions to have money from the line of credit wired to banks in Asia and Canada by using a victim’s birthday, mother’s maiden name and Social Security number - all obtained through online "people finder" databases - to answer the usual security questions, reports The Washington Post:
Hakeem Olokodana, 41, one alleged ring member awaiting trial in
The government alleges that Olokodana and other conspirators also traded personal and financial data of their victims using free Web mail accounts. Investigators say the men took care to mask their location by variously accessing the e-mail accounts via public wireless networks and through wireless PC cards acquired using billing information of other victims.
The Credit Union Information Security Professionals Association says home-equity fraud is on an upswing, and that more stringent security measures have been developed in response.
Comments