Archive for October 2012

Sensitive Documents Dumped Box loads of documents containing personal information and bank records have been found outside of an Atlanta office building. A concerned citizen called NBC affiliate WXIA after seeing paperwork blowing out of an open, collapsible dumpster. Elizabeth Newsom was walking to a grocery store and said she walked over for a closer…

ID theft fuels ‘tsunami’ of tax fraud in South Florida Stealing IDs off the Internet has become easier than swiping candy from a convenience store. Consider the case of Rodney St. Fleur, who was recently charged with taking the names of 26,000 people from public databases, including prison inmates. He obtained their Social Security numbers…

Florida man arrested in Owatonna for identity theft OWATONNA — A Florida man is currently being held at the Steele County Detention Center after he allegedly used a false name to purchase more than $7,100 of merchandise from Cabela’s and Kohl’s in Owatonna. Michel V. Oberto-Galban, 35, of Hialeah, Fla., was charged with one count…

Tax Refund Fraud Victims Getting Left Behind MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Tax refund fraud has kept federal prosecutors in South Florida busy as the crime continues to grow in popularity. Just this year, two former NFL players pleaded guilty to taking part in tax refund fraud. “Identity theft, tax refund scams are really no less than…

Man charged with tax fraud and identity theft A 30-year-old Fort Lauderdale man was indicted on federal tax fraud charges and accused of using identity theft to get income tax refunds, U.S. Attorney Wifredo A. Ferrer announced Tuesday. Lee Ervin Dale is facing 14 counts for filing false income tax returns with the IRS, using…

Data Breach Leads to Identity Theft at North West Florida State College An attack on Northwest Florida State College computer systems resulted in a data breach that has affected nearly 300,000 people and led to reports of identity theft and fraud. A data breach has turned scores of Northwest Florida State College (NWFSC) employees into…

Top Secret Service agent helps kick off cyber-crime campaign in South Florida It was no secret why the top boss at the U.S. Secret Service was in South Florida to talk about electronic-based crimes such as identity theft and credit-card skimmers. The region has earned the distinction of being a motherboard of sorts in electronic…

Georgia ranked second in identity theft complaints Identify theft is on the rise in Georgia and the use of social media may be partly blamed for the spike. A recently released study by a group that researches consumer behavior and financial trends reports that unsafe use of social media has played a role in the…

California parks officials probe possible document destruction The California Department of Parks and Recreation is investigating whether crucial records were destroyed by officials at Ocotillo Wells State Vehicular Recreation Area, an off-roading park in the desert east of San Diego. Richard Stapler, a spokesman for the California Natural Resources Agency, which oversees the state parks…

Feds charge tech consultant with fraud, ID theft An information technology consultant accused of applying for credit cards and using stolen identities faces 29 counts of fraud and identity theft. A federal grand jury handed down an indictment against Michael Morton, formerly of Tampa and now living in Clearwater, according to the U.S. Attorney for…