Four Famous Identity Theft Cases
Identity theft, though a new from of crime is already being very common. The identity theft cases are not only oriented towards the common average man but also the rich and powerful. This seemingly impossible act of impersonating or assuming the credentials of a famous and powerful personality is carried out by means of computer hackers. These criminals run elaborate rackets with various interconnected arms. Some are engaged in retrieving or obtaining personal information while some are engaged in forging documents such as passports and driving license. Thus the racket runs efficiently and is very difficult to crack down.
Let us look into some of the more famous identity theft scams so that we can form an idea about how the net work works and how can we prevent ourselves from being victimized.
• The Cheerleader MUM: a 30 year old mother stole the identity of her 14 year daughter and got into her school. She even joined the cheerleading team. Her fraud was ultimately discovered and she was sent to jail. Her daughter did not even have a clue as she was away with her grand parents at that time. The woman justified that she had a very disturbed and violent childhood and hence she wanted to experience school life again and even join the cheerleading team.
• Todd Davis: – The Todd Davis case was a surprisingly interesting to the point of being outright hilarious. Todd Davis was the CEO of a company which was engaged in identity theft protection. The company developed a certain program to prevent identity theft. The CEO was so confident of the system that as a marketing policy his social security number was publicly displayed on billboards and advertisements. Todd challenged that his system was foolproof but it was proved beyond doubt that it was not. Since his social security was hacked and various loans and credits were issued from his number in many financial institutions.
• Dr. Barnes case: – standard case of identity theft, what makes this case stand apart is that this particular doctor Barnes was convicted several times. He was no doctor in the first place as he did not go to any medical school. He used to impersonate other doctors and reap profits from their hard work. The real individuals were kept in the dark and were sent on holidays or spam mail was sent to them. It was said that he wanted to be a doctor but he never went close to the medical school. He had perfectly forged diplomas and medical degrees. And he has a very kind expression and good manners which made no one suspect him.
• Catch me if you can: – this is one movie we have watched many times starring Leonardo Di Caprio. But what many of us do not know that this film was based on a true story and the Frank Abagnale did actually exist. He ran havoc and assumed identities of drivers, doctors, school teachers, lawyers and even important and eminent personalities. He was so convincing in his con act that nobody could question his credentials. He forged checks, personated other people and did everything one imagined one cannot do. His case was a history and trendsetter in his world. He was ultimately caught and convicted. However he was so good in his field that his expertise was actually used by the government to catch other forgers. Thus he spent the rest of his lives trying to catch people just like his early life.
Thus acquiring knowledge the common identity theft scams will enable us to get enlightened and make ourselves aware of this imminent danger.