A Georgia identity theft ring has nearly 9,000 victims! The current number of victims of the alleged identity theft ring centered in Suwanee, Georgia stands at 8,965 and includes people from Georgia to California.
Apparently, the identity theft ring ran a bogus tax preparation service that was submitting false tax returns for unknowing victims. The scheme caused one victim, Jeanette Adams of Georgia, to get stuck with a $2400 tax bill. A retired nurse, Adams struggled to keep a roof over her head and pay for her medicines while paying back the IRS for taxes she did not owe. Unfortunately, no one would help her. Only later did she find out she was a victim of identity theft.
Authorities discovered the identity theft ring when they served a search warrant on the home of Annette Ford of Suwanee, Georgia. During their search, which was triggered by an investigation of some stolen checks, police found stacks of fraudulent tax returns, stolen checks and a legal pad containing handwritten notes of names, birth dates and Social Security numbers.
Ford has plead guilty in federal court. Three others have also been charged.
I have seen more and more tax return identity theft over the last few years. Unfortunately, there is usually no one to sue, since the debt rarely show up on the victim's credit reports. The FCRA therefore is no help to those victims. And the actual criminals usually are either never located or are judgment proof, making a civil suit against the criminals a waste of time.
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Showing posts with label identity theft ring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label identity theft ring. Show all posts
October 11, 2011
Operation Swiper busts largest identity theft scheme in U.S. history
Who says the economy is struggling? One identity theft ring that involved more than 100 criminals spent more than $13 million on iPads, iPhones, computers, watches and even swanky handbags from Gucci and Louis Vuitton. The only problem - they used their victims' credit to make the purchases.
A sixteen month investigation, dubbed "Operation Swiper", led to charges against 111 suspects, 86 of whom have been arrested thus far. The identity theft ring was run out of Queens, New York but stretched all over the globe, including China, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Employees at banks, restaurants and retail stores would start the identity theft by "skimming" the credit card data of customers (i.e. steal the information when they swiped the card, often by using a special machine to do so). Members of the ring would also steal credit card information online.
The information was then used to forge credit cards, which were placed in the hands of criminal shoppers, who would make the high end purchases identified above. The items bought (but never paid for) would then be sold overseas for pure profit.
The credit card companies in the U.S. could have prevented a lot of this by installing anti-skimming micro chips in their cards. Credit card companies overseas already install these chips so it must be feasible. The untold number of identity theft victims I am sure would have appreciated this extra protection, had the credit card companies been wise enough to have implemented it. Maybe losing out on over $13 million just from one ring will get their attention.
As always, any victims of this identity theft ring that need help can contact me through this blog or via e-mail to ckittell@merkel-cocke.com. I have represented identity theft victims in NY before and thus know some good FCRA attorneys in NY that may be willing to help.
A sixteen month investigation, dubbed "Operation Swiper", led to charges against 111 suspects, 86 of whom have been arrested thus far. The identity theft ring was run out of Queens, New York but stretched all over the globe, including China, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Employees at banks, restaurants and retail stores would start the identity theft by "skimming" the credit card data of customers (i.e. steal the information when they swiped the card, often by using a special machine to do so). Members of the ring would also steal credit card information online.
The information was then used to forge credit cards, which were placed in the hands of criminal shoppers, who would make the high end purchases identified above. The items bought (but never paid for) would then be sold overseas for pure profit.
The credit card companies in the U.S. could have prevented a lot of this by installing anti-skimming micro chips in their cards. Credit card companies overseas already install these chips so it must be feasible. The untold number of identity theft victims I am sure would have appreciated this extra protection, had the credit card companies been wise enough to have implemented it. Maybe losing out on over $13 million just from one ring will get their attention.
As always, any victims of this identity theft ring that need help can contact me through this blog or via e-mail to ckittell@merkel-cocke.com. I have represented identity theft victims in NY before and thus know some good FCRA attorneys in NY that may be willing to help.
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