Identity Theft

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gardenwife Newark, OH(Zone 5b) Aug 02, 2002

Just be glad you're not Steven Spielberg or Oprah Winfrey...

The following is an excerpt from the July 25, 2002 issue of Bob Rankin's The Internet Tourbus newsletter. The newsletter may be read in its entirety at http://www.tourbus.com/

Who Wants to Be a Billionaire?

Last year, a high-school dropout (emphasis added) employed as a busboy made headlines when he was caught in a scheme to steal millions from rich and famous people such as Steven Spielberg, Ross Perot, Oprah Winfrey and Ted Turner.

Police arrested 32-year-old Abraham Abdallah, in possession of a tattered copy of Forbes Magazine's "400 Richest" article, marked up with the social security numbers, home addresses and birth dates of 200 celebs and moguls.

Abdallah allegedly used the Internet for some of his research, and was able to obtain detailed credit reports on his victims, gain access to credit cards and poke into accounts at brokerage houses. Abdallah's virtual house of cards began to tumble when Merrill Lynch got suspicious about an email request to transfer $10 million.

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justmeLisa Brewers, KY(Zone 6b) Aug 02, 2002

yikes!

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golddog Western, PA(Zone 6a) Aug 02, 2002

Plug one dike, and the other is open.

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REDROSE New Iberia, LA(Zone 9a) Aug 02, 2002

OH MY GOODNESS!

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gardenwife Newark, OH(Zone 5b) Aug 03, 2002

Bob Rankin makes the point that you are at far greater risk for ID fraud and credit card theft by everyday transactions "in person" than you are by shopping online. There are small, portable card readers some unscrupulous waiters have been found to carry; they simply swipe the card's strip for its data, then swipe it at the register, too, to ring up the customer's purchase.

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