A Glorious Week of Identity Theft

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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

If there was ever a week to get high, totally drunk, on information security and identity theft scammers and hackers, then this is it! Media outlets everywhere have been pumping out story after story of data breaches, identity theft, criminal hackers and indictments! Yeah team! For a criminal hacker groupie, this is Woodstock!

Dark reading reports Eight defendants were arraigned in a Brooklyn court for allegedly using the stolen identities of AT&T, T-Mobile, and Asurion customers to steal some $22 million worth of wireless equipment and services. An indictment was unsealed in Brooklyn federal court yesterday morning charging Courtney Beckford and seven other defendants. When identity theft defendants named Courtney, Gabe, Marsha, Saul and Ron are involved in a $22 million identity theft scheme, then you know it’s just a matter of time until someone named Britney or Brad will get busted too! It’s the identity theft apocalypse!

ABC News reports that a former informant for the Secret Service was one of three men charged with stealing credit and debit card information from 170 million accounts in the largest data breach in history. The former informant, Albert Gonzalez of Florida, A.K.A “Segvec”, “SoupNazi,” and “j4guar17,” whose motto was ”Get Rich or Die Tryin’” was alleged to have been the ringleader of the criminal hacking operation of a prolific network that spans over five years of serious criminal activity.

Information week reports in the first half of 2009, the number of computer users affected by malware engineered to steal personal information has risen by 600% compared to the January through June period in 2008, according to PandaLabs. In quantitative terms, Panda reports identifying 391,406 computers infected with identity-theft malware in the first six months of the year. Identity thieves are also seeking sensitive information through a more diverse set of targets. Where previously financial data thieves focused on spoofing online bank sites to dupe users into entering login information, they have recently been targeting a variety of services where payment account information may be stored or entered, like PayPal, Amazon, eBay, or charity sites.

Cnet reports Rogue Facebook apps steal log-in data, send spam. Security firm Trend Micro warned on Wednesday that a handful of rogue Facebook apps are stealing log-in credentials and spamming victims’ friends. So far, six malicious applications have been identified: “Stream,” “Posts,” “Your Photos,” “Birthday Invitations,” “Inbox (1),” “Inbox (2)” according to a blog post by Trend Micro researcher Rik Ferguson. The activity started earlier in the week with a Facebook notification Ferguson says he got from an app called “sex sex sex and more sex!!!,” which has more than 287,000 fans. The notification said that someone had commented on one of his posts. That app doesn’t appear to be malicious and may have been compromised somehow to begin the distribution of the spam, he said.

USA Today reports Hackers harness Twitter to do their dirty work.  A cyber gang has begun experimenting with setting up free Twitter accounts, then sending out Tweets from the popular micro-blogging service that are really coded instructions to botted PCs to carry out criminal activities. Anti-virus maker Symantec has isolated several samples of infected PCs carrying a unique new infection, dubbed “Sninfs.”

The PCs most likely got infected when their users unwittingly clicked to a tainted web page or on a corrupted link carried in an email or social network message, says Marc Fossi research and development manager at Symantec Security Response.

Protect yourself;

Don’t just sit back and get hacked. Arm yourself with anti-virus that runs automatically in the background and prevents “Courtney, Marsha and SoupNazi” from stealing your identity. Pick up McAfee’s Total Protection software and take control of your PC security.

Get a credit freeze. Go to ConsumersUnion.org and follow the steps for your particular state. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases, it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. This makes your Social Security number useless to a potential identity thief.

Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft protection can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk.

Robert Siciliano identity theft speaker discussing the sad state of cyber security on Fox News and check washing and campus security on ABC News.

College Students At Risk For Identity Theft

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Identity Theft Expert Robert Siciliano

Why? Because they don’t care! September is National Campus Safety Awareness Month, and I’m teaming up with Uni-Ball pens to urge college students to protect their personal safety and security. Uni-Ball pens and the Identity Theft Resource Center surveyed 1,000 college students and 1,000 parents. This Campus Security Survey revealed that while about 74% of parents believe students are at a moderate to high risk for identity theft, and 30% of all identity theft victims are between 18 and 29, only 21% of students are concerned about identity theft.

It’s no surprise that most college students are indifferent when it comes to their personal and information security. When you are in your late teens or early twenties, you feel a sense of invincibility. However, once you have a few years under your belt, you begin to mature and gradually realize the world isn’t all about keg parties and raves. Hopefully if all goes well, you adopt some wisdom by the time you’re 30.

Here are a few more interesting statistics from the Campus Security Survey.

  • 89% of parents have discussed safety measures with their kids, yet kids continue to engage in risky behavior
  • 40% of students leave their apartment or dorm doors unlocked
  • 40% of students have provided their Social Security numbers online
  • 50% of students shred sensitive data
  • 9% of students share online passwords with friends
  • 1 in 10 have allowed strangers into their apartments
  • Only 11% use a secure pen (which can prevent check washing fraud) when write checks

College students have always been easy marks because their credit is ripe for the taking. Students’ Social Security numbers have traditionally been openly displayed on student badges, testing information, in filing cabinets and databases all over campus. Landlords and those involved in campus housing also have access to students identifying information.

The study concluded, “Students who ignore their own personal security are not only putting themselves at risk for identity theft, they are also putting their parents at risk. While getting established in the real world, it’s common practice among college students to use their parents’ names, bank account numbers and other personal information to co-sign loans and leases, write tuition and housing checks, register online to receive grades and more. So when online criminals strike, they are often manipulating parents’ personal data, not just the students’.” Any parent sending their children off to college should be concerned.

How to protect yourself:

  1. Lock your doors! The transient nature of college life means people are coming and going and thievery is more likely to happen. Just because you may come from a small town and do not lock your doors, that doesn’t make it okay at school.
  2. Limit the amount of information you give out. While you may have to give out certain private data, refuse whenever possible.
  3. Shred everything! Old bank statements, credit card statements, credit card offers and other account number bearing documents need to be shredded when no longer needed.
  4. Lock down your PCs. Make sure your Internet security software is up to date. Install spyware removal software. Lock down your wireless connection. Use strong passwords that include upper and lowercase letters as well as numbers. And never share passwords.
  5. Secure your signature. Use Uni-Ball gel pens to write rent checks and sign documents. They cost as little as $2 and contain Uni “Super Ink,” which is specially formulated to reduce document fraud and check washing, a popular form of identity theft.
  6. Be alert for online scams. Never respond to emails or text messages that are purportedly coming from your bank. Always log into your bank account manually via your favorites menu.
  7. Invest in Intelius Identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk.
  8. Get a credit freeze. Go to ConsumersUnion.org and follow the steps for your particular state. In most cases, this prevents new accounts from being opened in your name.

Robert Siciliano, identity theft speaker, discusses identity theft protection and check washing on TBS’s Movie and a Makeover.

Check Fraud Identity Theft is Rising

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Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert

As opening new lines of credit becomes more difficult, identity thieves are gravitating toward check fraud.

Check fraud is a billion dollar problem. As predicted by the Identity Theft Resource Center, check fraud, which accounted for 12% of financial crimes in 2007, increased to 17% in 2008. According to the American Bankers Association Deposit Account Fraud Survey Report, $969 million were stolen via check fraud in 2006, up from a reported $677 million in 2003. Of the $969 million dollars lost to check fraud, 38% was stolen through return deposit scams, 27% was stolen using cloned checks, 28% was stolen using counterfeit checks,  and 7% was stolen by altering or washing checks.

In an article in The New York Post, a brazen ring of thieves enlisted crooked bank tellers to run a check fraud scheme that was brought down when the crooks made the mistake of forging checks from a NYPD account. Two criminal hacker ringleaders organized the counterfeit scam, using 950 “soldiers,” or “mules,” to deposit and cash counterfeit checks, netting them millions of dollars. Three bank tellers were involved, stealing and selling customer profiles which included names, Social Security numbers, and account numbers. Insider identity theft of this kind accounts for up to 70% of all instances of identity theft.

Check fraud victims include banks, businesses and consumers themselves. Our current system for cashing checks is somewhat flawed. Checks can be cashed and merchandise can be purchased even when there is no money in the checking account.

I presented a program on motivation and self-improvement at a women’s prison in Massachusetts a few years back. I requested a little background on the women I was speaking to, just because I watch too many movies and I wanted to know if there was any possibility I’d get shanked. The case worker informed me that about 80% of the women were incarcerated for check fraud and shoplifting. It seems that when some people get a checkbook, they consider it an opportunity to print money.

There are numerous forms of check fraud:

Forged signatures are the easiest form of check fraud. These are legitimate checks with a forged signature. This can occur when a checkbook is lost or stolen, or when a home or business is burglarized. An individual who is invited into your home or business can rip a single check from your checkbook and pay themselves as much as they like. Banks don’t often verify signatures until a problem arises that requires them to assign liability.

Forged endorsements generally occur when someone steals a check and cashes or deposits it. There’s really nothing anyone can do to protect themselves from this, aside from guarding their checks and going over their bank statements carefully.

Counterfeit checks can be created by anyone with a desktop scanner and printer. They simply create a check and make it out to themselves. In order to prevent your checks from being counterfeited, make sure you shred all canceled checks before throwing them away, and be sure to lock up any checks in your home or office. Consider a locked mailbox so nobody can access your bank statements. You should also seriously consider using online banking exclusively, and discontinuing paper statements.

Check kiting or check floating usually involves two bank accounts, where money is transferred back and forth, so that they appear to contain a balance which can then be withdrawn. A check is deposited in one account, then cash is withdrawn despite the lack of sufficient funds to cover the check. In this case, it’s generally the bank or whoever cashed the check that gets burnt, unless they are able to go after the person who used their own account.

Check washing involves altering a legitimate check, changing the name of the payee and often increasing the amount. This is the sneakiest form of check fraud. When checks or tax-related documents are stolen, either from the mail or by other means, the ink can be erased using common household chemicals such as nail polish remover. This allows the thieves to endorse checks to themselves. In this case, something as simple and inexpensive as a select uni-ball pen can help. Select uni-ball pens contain specially formulated gel ink (trademarked Uni-Super Ink™) that is absorbed into the paper’s fibers and can never be washed out. The pen costs two bucks and is available at any office supply store.

If you write a check to pay a bill and then put it in your mailbox for the postal carrier to deliver, you put yourself at a higher risk for check fraud. Thieves see that red flag up and go phishing for checks. I suggest using a uni-ball pen and taking checks directly to the post office, or dropping them in a big blue mailbox.

If you plan to do any online banking, which millions do, make sure your PC is protected with McAfee anti-virus software and all your critical security patches in your operating system are up to date.

Robert Siciliano identity theft speaker discussing identity fraud and security