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Private investigator accused of stealing wealthy people’s personal info

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Oct 032012

Private investigator accused of stealing wealthy people’s personal info

Your Downtown News
Action News 5
by Nick Kenney, Reporter
September 7, 2012

Private Investigator Dennis Clark

MEMPHIS, TN- (WMC-TV) –

A man is behind bars and charged with stealing and selling wealthy people’s personal information.

Dennis Clark is a private investigator, who has been licensed in the state of Tennessee since May 1993.

The secret service says he was using his access for ill-gotten gains. Now, Clark is charged with identity theft and computer crimes. He is in jail on a $100,000 bond.

Clark works for Guardsmark, which is located on South 2nd Street in downtown Memphis.

Police say a woman gave Clark 46 tag numbers to high end vehicles that she had written down. In exchange for $1,000, investigators say he gave her names, social security numbers, addresses, and spousal information associated with the car tags.

They say he was able to find all of the information in an industry database called Lexis Nexis.

Andy Wilson, who is a private investigator with no ties to the case, Clark, or Guardsmark, says Lexis Nexis and other databases of its kind are powerful tools that must be used ethically.

He describes this identity theft as disappointing.

“Anything is a big deal when information is compromised and someone is victimized. So yes, it’s absolutely a big deal,” said Wilson.

According to an affidavit of complaint, the dollar loss exposure is over $1 million.

One man previously got taken for $8,500 in the same scheme when his online bank account was changed without his permission.

A spokesman for Guardsmark told Action News 5 by phone, “We have been advised not to comment on this situation.”

The secret service declined to comment, too. They say the case is still under investigation and that more arrests are probable.

Direct Link: http://downtown.wmctv.com/news/news/83695-private-investigator-accused-stealing-wealthy-peoples-personal-info

Don’t Be A Victim of… Cell Phone Financial Identity Theft!

Articles of Interest, Crimes & Criminal Activity (Organized Crime, Narcotics, Predators, Cyber Crime, Cyber Stalking, UnSolved), Firearms, Weapons & Personal Safety, National security, Terrorism, Cyber Terrorism & Related Crimes, Social Media, Technology & Digital Security Comments Off

Jul 312012

Cell Phone Financial Identity Theft

SCIENCE DAILY

by Wake Forest University

July 26, 2012

While the cell phone is an amazingly useful device, using it for banking — and consumers are increasingly using mobile phones as banking tools — can lead to identity theft and other financial crimes, if reasonable precautions aren’t taken.

“Anyone who has access to your cell phone has access to your identity in a few clicks,” says Elizabeth Baker, an assistant professor at Wake Forest University and an expert in information system security issues. “Often, credit card companies limit your financial responsibility if your card is stolen and fraud is committed. This is not true for your checking and savings bank accounts. Money fraudulently withdrawn can be costly.”

* * Baker offers the following tips for protecting yourself from mobile financial theft.

* Never store financial information on your cell phone — logins, passwords, account numbers, Social Security numbers, etc. — not even in a mobile banking app.

If you lose your phone, whoever finds it has immediate access to your account if your login credentials are stored. A thief can use the app and get your account info to withdraw your money. Big hazard.

* Never text message any financial information from your cell phone.

Text messages are not secure modes of communication, and all of the texts that you send are logged in your phone. A hacker or thief could access your phone and the text message logs to easily find your financial information.

* Lock your phone or have a way to delete the information on your phone remotely.

According to a survey last year by data security firm Sophos, 22 percent of respondents have lost their phones, while 70 percent didn’t use password protection. Use a password.

* Check your accounts frequently for suspicious activity.

Every few days, if not everyday, you should check on your money. Since you will be the one without the money and with scarce opportunity to get any restitution, it is important to be on top of the account to make sure that nothing unexpected is happening.

Teenagers and young adults are particularly vulnerable to mobile identity theft because they are comfortable sharing information through their phones, Baker says. Make sure to discuss these dangers with your teens when they open their first bank accounts and monitor their accounts regularly.

Direct Link: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/07/120726180137.htm

Hacker steals data on 780,000 Utahns from state computer

Apr 112012

Hacker steals data on 780,000 Utahns from state computer

USA TODAY

By Michael Winter

April 9, 2012

A computer hacker stole Social Security numbers for 280,000 Utahns and swiped names, addresses and birth dates for 500,000 others, state officials said today.

Utah Department of Technology Services

Officials announced the dramatically higher estimates at a news conference, the Salt Lake Tribune reports. Utahns covered by Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) who sought health care in the past four months are the most likely victims of the identify theft, officials said.

They first believed that the data theft, which occurred late April 1, involved only 24,000 Medicaid payment claims or eligibility inquiries. That estimate grew to more than 182,000 and included people covered by CHIP, among others.

A hacker traced to Eastern Europe first accessed a weakly protected computer server at the Utah Department of Health on March 30. The thief downloaded about 224,000 files, some of which contained hundreds of records, said health department spokesman Tom Huduchko, the Associated Press says. The breach was discovered April 2.

In a statement, the Department of Technology Services explained that a “configuration error occurred at the password authentication level, allowing the hacker to circumvent DTS’s security system.”

The stolen Social Security numbers did not include other personal information, he said. But the files had other data for 500,000 additional individuals.

The DTS noted in an FAQ (pdf) that claims payment and eligibility inquiries “contain sensitive, personal health information from individuals and health care providers. Such information could include Social Security numbers, names, dates of birth, addresses, diagnosis codes, national provider identification numbers, provider taxpayer identification numbers, and billing codes.”

The revised figure means that roughly one in four Utahns may have had their individual information compromised.

State officials will be contacting affected residents. Those whose Social Security numbers were stolen will receive a year of free credit-record monitoring. The news release has more information.

Direct Link: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/ondeadline/post/2012/04/hacker-steals-data-on-780k-from-utah-state-computer/1?csp=34news#.T4ZNqNmWtI5