Nigerian Citizen Living in North Carolina Arrested for Phishing Scheme Targeting Connecticut and Minnesota School Districts

Nigerian citizen Daniel Adekunle Ojo was arrested last week at his residence in Durham, North Carolina.  He is being charged with fraud and identity theft charges filed by Connecticut U.S. Attorney Deirdre Daly.  

According to prosecutors, an employee of the school district in Glastonbury, Connecticut was duped by a phishing scam which Ojo was allegedly behind.  A phishing scam is one where an e-mail that appears to be legitimate asks for private information or asks the recipient to log into an account via a link in the e-mail that leads to a fake site.  Any information obtained via a phishing e-mail can then be used to commit financial crimes.

In the scam in this case, Ojo allegedly spoofed the e-mail address of one school employee to make it appear that that school employee had e-mailed the duped school employee requesting tax information for approximately 1600 school district employees.  Not realizing that the e-mail was not legitimate, the school employee provided the requested information, which was then allegedly used to file 122 bogus tax returns for nearly $600,000.00 in tax refunds.

At least six of the fake tax returns were successful, resulting in $37,000 in refunds being electronically deposited into various bank accounts.

It is also believed by authorities that Ojo is not a first time phisher.  Ojo's e-mail address is allegedly linked to a phishing scam in Bloomington, Minnesota earlier this year and that he may have been involved in a similar phishing scheme that targeted the school district in Groton, Connecticut.

A federal magistrate judge has ordered that Ojo be transferred to Connecticut for prosecution.

My advice on phishing:  Never, ever, ever click a link in an unsolicited e-mail even if it looks like it legitimately came from a company with which you do business.  Phishers used to be easy to spot due to their poor grammar and odd phrasing used in their e-mails.  But they have gotten better and thus less easy to spot.  So think hard before you click.

Identity thief arrested at her own wedding

When the audience was asked whether anyone objected to this marriage, the police said "we do!".  A woman was arrested at her own wedding on a Michigan warrant for identity theft recently.  Police actually allowed Tammy Lee Hinton of Port Richey, Michigan to finish her wedding before hauling her off to jail.  She was held for less than half an hour before the new hubby bailed her out.  Wonder if he had some wedding cake on the way to the jail?

According to authorities Hinton used a computer to commit her crimes and charged around $3,000 in utility bills under her victim’s name in 2009. However when she learned there was a warrant for her arrest in Michigan, she fled to Florida.

Way to start off a marriage, huh?

Talk about a bad day ...

Imagine reading your local paper's crime report and seeing that you have been arrested for a crime.  Only you weren't arrested.  That's what happened to Dennis Lewis of Hattiesburg, Mississippi.  According to the Hattiesburg American, Lewis was listed in their January 18 crime report as being charged with vagrancy and interfering with a police officer.  Only Lewis was not charged with anything.  And, for the record, this happening in Hattiesburg apparently had nothing to do with Tiger Woods or the Hattiesburg sex addiction facility he is currently visiting.

Lewis has now filed identity theft charges against Ben Scroggins for using Lewis' name and date of birth at the time of Scroggins' arrest.

I need to start keeping a list ...

of all the types of employments I have seen used to steal identities.  I can recall car dealers, radio hosts, bankers, custodians, mortgage brokers, pickpockets.  It seems like rich and poor can all be greedy enough to try identity theft.  Well, thanks to the AP article below, I can now add waiter to the list:

KANSAS CITY, Mo.—A former Kansas City man has admitted stealing credit card information from customers while he was a waiter at a Country Club Plaza restaurant.


John David Woody of Los Angeles pleaded guilty to identity theft and credit card fraud on Friday in federal court in Kansas City. The 35-year-old admitted that he stole information from 20 customers at the Brio Tuscan Grille in July and August 2008.

Prosecutors say Woody used an electronic device to skim the magnetic strip on the back of credit cards to obtain the information. He then used the credit card numbers to purchase goods online, including thousands of dollars worth of DVDs.

Woody is facing up to 35 years in prison without parole and a fine of up to $750,000.

Chicago Cub Tyler Colvin possible identity theft victim

Tyler Colvin, a touted up and coming outfield prospect for my favorite baseball team, the Chicago Cubs, is at least an attempted identity theft victim.  Colvin has never been to Utah.  Yet, someone used his name and apparent emerging baseball fame to purchase a $50,000 Dodge pickup truck at a West Valley City, Utah car dealership last week.

Authorities caught up to Matthew T. Van Meter, a 24 year old resident of Nevada, after he presented documents identifying himself as Colvin and signed Colvin's name to a contract to purchase the truck, with a promise to return the next day to pay for the vehicle.

Van Meter, who is being held in a Salt Lake jail, allegedly also has a theft warrant out for him in Tacoma, Washington.

Tyler, if you read this, first let me say I am a huge Cubs fan.  And, second, if you need legal representation, please e-mail me at ckittell@merkel-cocke.com and I'll be happy to help a Cubbie out!

Department of Justice's nationwide effort nabs another identity thief

A Tennessee federal grand jury has indicted an alleged identity thief as a part of the Department of Justice's nationwide effort to identify and prosecute those responsible for mortgage and other fraud against lending institutions. 

Jerome Henderson, Jr. of Clarksville, Tennessee was indicted last week for aggravated identity theft, bank fraud and social security number misuse.  According to the indictment, from March 2005 to May 2007, Henderson submitted multiple fraudulent loan applications to various lenders and financial institutions for the purchase of property in the Nashville area.  The indictment further alleges that Henderson forged documents as part of his scheme, including false social security numbers, a forged Army Contractor Badge, forged W-2 forms, and other forged documents, which he attached to mortgage loan applications and submitted to lenders. In addition, Henderson created false bank statements that showed fictitious direct deposit amounts into accounts bearing his name, and containing a bogus physical address.

Henderson faces up to 32 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine.

Syracuse, New York attorney charged with identity theft

Prosecutors have charged New York attorney Bonnie Strunk with stealing the identity of her law partner's husband, which she allegedly used to open a fraudulent credit card account.  Strunk is also charged with felony tax fraud.

Strunk was initially charged in May with felony counts of third-degree grand larceny and first-degree identity theft involving allegations she used the name of Dr. Robert Seidenberg – the husband of her long-time law partner, Faith Seidenberg – to open a Capital One MasterCard account.  Strunk allegedly used the credit card to pay over $17,000 in veterinary bills from Georgia, Paypal accounts in California and airline tickets on JetBlue.


Now she has been charged for failing to file a 2008 tax return when she had a tax liability of over $11,000.  Strunk is allegedly attempting to negotiate a plea deal.

Identity thief no real "princess"

Memphian Princess Bland has been arrested for identity theft.  Shelby County, Tennessee authorities searched the north Memphis home of Princess Bland and found the names, Social Security numbers and even tax records of Bland's alleged victims from all over the United States.  Authorities claim that Bland was using these identities of 26 people to purchase items over the internet.

All 26 victims are over the age of 55 and did not know their identities had been stolen.  Bland allegedly used their identities to purchase over $17,000 worth of computers and computer accessories from computer manufacturer Dell.  Bland, however, made the mistake of using the same e-mail address on all the purchases, which tipped off Dell's fraud investigators.  Dell then contacted the appropriate authorities.

According to Memphis authorities, Bland was a supervisor of an unnamed company and used her position to obtain her victims' information. The company should be looked into for its hiring practices, as Bland was no "princess", as she had an extensive criminal history of identity theft and theft in general.  Had the company done its homework, 26 people would not have become victims. 

The first 6 victims investigated have not been from the Memphis area.  The authorities are still waiting on the list identifying the other 20 victims.

Authorities believe that Bland did not act alone and that she also used the victims' identities to open department store credit cards.  Bland's victims, if they read this, should contact an attorney in my line of work.  If you need help, please feel free to contact me at ckittell@merkel-cocke.com and I will do my best to assist you or find an attorney in your area that is also experienced in this type of case.

Identity thief allegedly uses Ohio man's identity since 2001

Phoenix, Arizona's Marcus Jones has been indicted for identity theft and forgery.  Jones was arrested after it was allegedly discovered that he had a business, credit cards and several vehicles in the name of an Ohio man.  According to authorities, Jones had been using the Ohio man's identity since at least 2001.

The Ohio man contacted authorities after experiencing legal, financial and tax complications as a result of the alleged theft of his identity by Jones.

Identity theft ring in South Florida busted

Police have busted up an identity theft ring operating in south Florida.  A bank teller and five others - namely Janice Coachman of North Lauderdale, Latoya Robinson of Fort Lauderdale, Roberta Huha of Dania Beach, Jude Thompson of Lauderhill, Vincent Ware of North Lauderdale, and Curisha Bryant of West Park - were all arrested in a 3 county crack down of an identity theft in south Florida.  Four other suspects are still at large.

The 21 count federal indictment accused most of the defendants of using stolen credit cards, stealing identities, cashing forged checks as well as recruiting others to joing the ring.  Charges include aggravated identity theft and bank fraud.

According to the indictment, Curisha Bryant was a bank teller at a BankAtlantic branch, where she allegedly shared information from her customers' accounts with three of her co-defendants.

Toys for Tots scam results in arrest for identity theft

Marsha Lynn Foster of Dekalb County, Georgia has been charged with identity theft and theft by deception.  According to authorities, Foster posed as a representative of Toys for Tots and falsely solicited donations from local merchants in a fraudulent manner.  Police arrested Foster Saturday evening at her home near Decatur, Georgia.

Authorities have offered some helpful tips when approached by donation seekers:
Obtain the representatives credentials such as photo identification.
Obtain charity organization information such as a business card and other literature.
Do not give donation immediately. Take the time to contact the agency to verify they had a representative in your area.
Most charity organizations will provide a donation request on letterhead and they will not ask for CASH ONLY.

Most importantly, use your common sense.

Two Dallas women charged with stealing 147 identities

Police have arrested and charged Yolanda Burks and Beverly Crowder, both of Dallas, Texas, after they were found to possess the personal information of 147 Dallas and Tarrant county residents.  Police believe that the duo has used the personal information of others to obtain cell phones and utlility services for over two years.  Authorities believe that the pair may have obtained the personal information by stealing mail or other types of theft.

Authorities are attempting to contact the 147 potential victims.

Identity theft leads to murder

Christopher Helmlinger was murdered in September.  Berryville, Arkansas police believe Evin Davis, Jr. murdered Helmlinger in order to steal his identity.

Helmlinger was shot to death and buried in a shallow grave.  His body was found approximately two weeks after his family reported him missing when police received a tip about a mound of dirt with a shovel nearby.  Davis, who went by the alias Charles Hedstrom, was spotted near the mound of dirt.  The same night Helmlinger's body was found, Davis a.k.a. Hedstrom and his family left town. 

Davis a.k.a Hedstrom worked with Helmlinger at Tyson Foods and spent a lot of time together.  The police's investigation of the tip regarding Davis' proximity to the location of Helmlinger's body led police to learn that Hedstrom was really Davis and was wanted in Missouri for stealing a car. 

Davis' wife was apprehended when she showed up for her final pay check.  She refused to tell authorities where her husband was holed up, but he eventually turned himself in.  Davis is being held while a determination regarding his bond is pending.  His wife is being held on a $1 million bond.

Tax return preparer charged wiht identity theft

Sharon Meyers-Washington, a Little Rock, Arkansas resident who worked part time as a tax preparer, has been charged with identity theft as a result of fraudulently using Social Security numbers to prepare false tax returns.  Ironically, Meyers-Washington is also an employee of the Social Security Administration. 

Meyers-Washington was a tax return preparer for Jackson Hewitt for tax years 2005 and 2006 and for JBL Refunds in 2007. 

Meyers-Washington was charged with 24 counts of aiding and assisting the preparation of false tax returns, 34 counts of fraudulently using Social Security numbers and one count of aggravated identity theft.

Crime almost paid ... to the tune of $1.1 million

A New York computer technician almost got away with a scheme that would have netted him $1.1 million.  The key word being "almost".

Adeniyi Adeyemi has been arrested and charged with stealing the identities of more than 150 Bank of New York employees and using their identities to open bank accounts and brokerage accounts to be used as dummy accounts to receive stolen funds.  Adeyemi then allegedly stole funds from the bank accounts of charities and other non-profit organizations, transferring the funds to the dummy accounts.  He later withdrew the funds from the dummy accounts and deposited into other accounts.  Most of the crime was perpretrated over the internet, since charities make their account information readily available in order to encourage donations, which also makes them easy targets for a computer hacking identity thief such as Adeyemi. 

The U.S. Secret Service investigated, finding dozens of credit reports of Bank of New York employees (i.e. Adeyemi's co-workers) on Adeyemi's computer.  Also, investigators also found notebooks containing hundreds of names, SSNs and other personal identifiers, as well as credit cards in the names of Bank of New York employees, in a storage locker rented by Adeyemi.

Sounds like the government's case is pretty solid.

Life Insurance Agent Arrested for Identity Theft

Kerry Urban Hunter, an Inglewood, California life insurance agent, was arrested and charged with one count of identity theft and one count of grand theft, both of which are felonies.  Hunter allegedly received over $5,000 in advanced commissions from a duped life insurer after submitting 18 bogus insurance applications for nine different people.

Hunter's scheme was discovered when his company peformed its own investigation after after an inordinate amount of applications were cancelled due to the premium checks bouncing.

Hunter allegedly used his own checking account information on the applications but incorrect dates of birth and SSNs of the supposed applicants.  Police were able to locate one of the alleged applicants who did not know Hunter and did not intend to buy any life insurance from him.

Arizon identity theft victim helps police catch identity thief while on vacation in France

An Arizona resident was on vacation in France when he was contacted by his bank about suspicious charges showing up on his account.  The unnamed Arizonan immediately contacted the Scottsdale, Arizona authorities and informed them that there were fraudulent charges being made with credit cards he had left at his Scottsdale apartment.  Additionally, the man told police that several delivery companies had contacted him about purchases that were to be delivered to his apartment that day.

Police checked his apartment at 1:30 a.m. and, while empty, it was clear that someone had been there and, since the identity thief had apparently scheduled deliveries to the apartment of his illegally purchased items for later that day, the police decided that the identity thief would likely return to the apartment.  The police kept the apartment under surveillance until 7:30 a.m., when detectives arrived to wait inside the apartment.

At approximately 8:00 a.m., Neil Freemore, the identity thief suspect, exited an adjacent apartment and walked into the victim's apartment, where the detectives took him into custody.  Sealing the deal, so to speak, Freemore had in his possession the victim's credit card when he arrived at the victim's apartment. 

Police executed a search warrant on the adjacent apartment and found items belonging to the victim, including clothing, electronics, and other personal items, as well as drug paraphernalia.  The drug paraphernalia led to the arrest of Freemore's roommate Jayne Ozlen on drug charges.  Freemore was charged with burglary, theft, fraudulent use of a credit card, identity theft and drug possession.

Upcoming sentencing for illegal immigrant linked to thousands of fake ids

A Mexican citizen in Witchita, Kansas is scheduled for sentencing regarding one count of identity theft.  The 62 year old Jorge Alvarez Rivera, a.k.a. Daniel Salas, is scheduled for sentencing on January 11, 2010 for making a false claim of U.S. citizenship and identity theft, charges that he pleaded guilty to last month.

However, Rivera is also linked to thousands of U.S. birth certificates produced for illegal immigrants.  In fact, more than a decade ago, Rivera was found with more than 830 Kansas birth certificates hidden in the trunk of his vehicle after he was involved in an auto accident.  However, he was never prosecuted for this crime. 

Fortunately, he is finally being taken off the streets.

What are they teaching our kids? Biloxi teacher charged with stealing another teacher's identity

From the Biloxi, Mississippi Sun Herald -

An assistant teacher at Nichols Elementary School has been charged with identity theft against another teacher, Biloxi police said.

Police Sgt. Donnie Dobbs said Kimberly Riley, 41, of D’Iberville was arrested Monday evening at her home on Dianne Drive.

Dobbs said a criminal investigation led to allegations Riley defrauded the victim in two ways.

Riley is accused of using the teacher’s personal information to open different credit cards and make assorted purchases until the accounts were closed.

She also allegedly used one of the victim’s credit card numbers to purchase cell phone services.
“Right now I can show about $2,000 but the money involved is estimated at $4,000,” Dobbs said.

“It started back in February. The victim later noticed some unusual charges on her credit reports and she contacted us.”

D’Iberville Police Department assisted in the investigation.

Riley was held at the Harrison County jail on $25,000 bond set by Justice Court Judge Albert Fountain.

Psychic identity thief caught anyway

James Scott Carver, an Ohio Fifth Third Bank employee who also offered psychic readings and spiritual counseling via a website, was arrested and charged with stealing the identity of a bank customer.  He even touted himself as being able to psychically solve crimes. You'd think a crime solving psychic would see his own arrest coming?!  Maybe his website customers need to seek a refund.

Even better, while investigating Carver's identity theft charge, police found DVDs containing child pornography, which led to the arrest of Carver's "partner" Roy Frederick Sholtes.  So, thanks to Carver's inability to see the arrest in his own future, the police got a two for one, removing both an identity thief and a child pornographer from the streets of Ohio.

Police and bank officials are asking customers of the Fifth Third branch where Carver worked (located on Declaration Drive in Independence, OH) to check their accounts for fraudulent or suspicious activity.