| Identity theft is a federal crime under the | | | | Winfrey and Ted Turner's names! Law |
| Identity Theft and Assumption Deterrence Act. | | | | enforcement officers called it one of the |
| It occurs when a con artist uses your | | | | most ambitious identity theft scams they had |
| personal information, such as name, mailing | | | | ever seen, a hi-tech scheme of Hollywood |
| address, Social Security number, credit card | | | | proportions. Even though the police arrested |
| number, birth date to set up a clone | | | | Abdallah five years ago, they are still |
| identity, which then buys merchandise, takes | | | | trying to trace the complex electronic trail |
| loans and makes other financial transactions. | | | | to figure out exactly how much money was |
| The impersonator keeps the loot, while you | | | | siphoned.Of the recent high-profile identity |
| get stuck with the bad credit. Identity theft | | | | theft scams, the MphasiS BFL - Citibank case |
| scams have received their fair share of media | | | | is particularly noteworthy, because of the |
| attention in recent years.The crime of | | | | ease with which five young employees from |
| identity theft has reached epidemic | | | | MsourcE, an Indian call center allegedly |
| proportions, with identity theft scams making | | | | pulled off a financial fraud worth nearly |
| headlines more and more every day. One of the | | | | half-a-million dollars. The accused were no |
| high-profile identity theft scams involving a | | | | geeks, and did not break through firewalls or |
| New York's restaurant busboy, Abraham | | | | decoded encrypted software. Instead, they |
| Abdallah, is the largest identity theft in | | | | devised a simple modus operandi. Being the |
| the history of the Internet. Abdallah, a | | | | authorized e-banking service providers to |
| 32-year-old high school dropout, breached the | | | | Citibank, these MsourcE employees were privy |
| private finances of 217 of the Forbes 400 | | | | to confidential details of various account |
| wealthiest people in America. Using a few | | | | holders. The only pieces missing were the |
| web-enabled cell phones, virtual voicemail | | | | passwords, which these employees apparently |
| and a public library computer, the so-called | | | | got by "sweet-talking" the account |
| "busboy" is said to have guessed the | | | | holders.Identity theft does not have to be |
| passwords of his favorite tycoons, input | | | | big and news worthy to ruin peoples lives. |
| personal information so conveniently | | | | The small time con artist can assume several |
| available in Forbes magazine, swiped Social | | | | different identities and ruin the financial |
| Security numbers, and accessed brokerage | | | | lives of dozens of people, semingly |
| accounts.Soon Abdallah forged bank's | | | | overnight!Keith Londrie II is a well known |
| stationeries deployed multiple couriers to | | | | author. For more information on Identity |
| escape detection, and had credit cards in | | | | Theft, please visit Identity Theft for a |
| Steven Spielberg, Martha Stewart, Oprah | | | | wealth of information. |