Archive for the ‘Check scams’ Category

A High Value ID Theft Target

Friday, October 1st, 2010

During a recent celebration,  I opened a gift that made me smile.  It was the new Robin Hood film starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett.

We all know the premise.  Robin Hood takes from the rich and gives to the poor. Unfortunately, not all thieves are so noble. Please read on.

The Orange County Business Journal and Forbes Magazine blogger Mark Lacter recently reported on a modern story based on the classic tale of a wealthy land owner who falls prey to a dastardly thief.  In this case, the alleged crook  Moundir Kamil, decided to keep $1.4 million in loot for himself after commandeering  a large IRS tax refund check. The wealthy land owner in our modern tale is billionaire California real estate mogul Donald Bren.

According to the Orange County Business Journal:

“News of the bizarre theft went on to get national exposure as questions arose about how a 40-something suspect—who listed his occupation merely as “smoke shop” operator and looks nothing like the 78-year-old Bren—could make off with the identity and money of OC’s most prominent businessman. The refund check Kamil allegedly stole was the result of overpayment of estimated quarterly taxes by Bren. When and how the suspect managed to get the check wasn’t stated in the initial complaint, nor is it mentioned in the government’s updated charges for Kamil.”

Although authorities have not disclosed how Kamil came into posession of the check, it is clear that he was somehow able to pass himself off as the victim. Not only did he deposit the loot into a newly opened bank account, he withdrew most of it before being captured.

Thanks to an eagle-eyed prison guard who recognized surveillance photos of the culprit, the fraudster’s identity was uncovered. It seems that Kamil had previously been caught stealing from the rich.  He is not just a disappointment to Robin Hood fans, worldwide.  The parole board has to be a little embarrased and disappointed to have released a 9 time bank robber back into the general population in Sherwood Forest.


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Posted in Check scams, Financial Scams, Fraud | 1 Comment »

Top U.S. Banker Newest ID Theft Poster Child

Saturday, September 5th, 2009

On August 25th, President Barack Obama nominated Ben Bernanke to another term as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

In a story reported this week by The Economist:

“The decision was widely hailed on Wall Street and in Washington, DC. With few exceptions, politicians and economists lined up to praise Mr. Bernanke and to laud Mr. Obama for keeping him.”

Coincidentally, also on August 25th, Newsweek Magazine reported:

“Last summer, just as he was dealing with the first rumblings of the financial crisis on Wall Street, Bernanke learned that a thief had swiped his wife’s purse-including the couple’s joint check book. Later, someone started cashing checks on the Bernanke family account…”

“The theft of the Bernanke check book-never publicly revealed until now-soon became part of a wide-ranging (and previously underway) identity-theft investigation by the Secret Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.”

The shocking news is that the “previously underway” investigation exposed what the Justice Department calls “the largest alleged credit and debit card data breach ever charged in the United States.”

Many of the highest profile breaches in U.S. history are allegedly the result of this one mastermind’s activity. Thankfully, the ringleader and two of his co-conspirators are behind bars now.

Victims of the crime-spree reportedly include:

  • Heartland Payment Systems
  • Supermarket chain Hannaford Brothers
  • 7-Eleven stores
  • DSW shoe stores
  • TJ Maxx stores

This is a wake up call for America. If brazen purse snatchers can swipe cash from our top banker’s checking account and hackers can swipe “protected” corporate data with impunity, then the average American continues to remain vulnerable beyond belief.

Protecting your mail, private pins , personal data, passwords, payment instruments (credit/debit cards, checks) and computer data is YOUR responsibility. Despite our best efforts, the portability of data outside of our control, leaves us all exposed in this digital world.

This truth-is-stranger-than-fiction story illustrates another truth. Without the dedicated and ongoing effort of law enforcement, your personal, medical or bank records are just as vulnerable as an attractive unattended purse, slung over the back of a chair at the local Starbucks.

Posted in Check scams, Data Breaches, Data security, Federal Government, Police agencies | No Comments »

Advice to Identity Thieves: "Don't Target Cops!"

Monday, June 8th, 2009

This story hits close to home for me because it mirrors an incident in my own experience.

Sooner or later, a criminal’s luck runs out. That’s what happened to a group of identity thieves who recently bit off more than they could chew.

The Associated Press reported this week that a ring of counterfeit check scammers got themselves into a mess that could keep them on ice for quite some time, at the expense of the taxpayers in the state of Oregon.

Most police agencies have one person who is considered their “go-to” expert on certain types of cases. In this case the cop is Barbara Glass. She is a veteran police officer who has nearly 20 years of service under her utility belt.

According to the report, Glass has served all those years:

” including eight specializing in ID and fraud investigations. During her investigation into the check ring, she got an e-mail from a Safeway store to alert her that her name had showed up as the signee on one of the bogus checks (that was) passed.”

I was immediately reminded of the value of some type of early warning, late warning, any warning that can inform a victim that they have been compromised. Most consumers have done NOTHING to erect an early warning system for themselves.

Many people who have purchased some type of identity theft protection are still vulnerable to ongoing abuse. Unlike the timely and coincidental email from Safeway in this case, most of us have no form of notification or early warning set up for us until it’s too late.

Officer Glass told The Oregonian newspaper that she nearly fell off her chair.  Glass recalls shouting out to her partner, Officer Dave Staab “My name!” Her full name was handwritten on a fake check and cashed back in April.

This story hits close to home because I remember the day my wife and I had the same conversation. Counterfeit checks were presented and cashed all over town with our bank information and a signature that wasn’t even close to mine.

In my case, the culprits were never identified, but due to the police work of Officers Glass and Staab, the Multnomah County Deputy District attorney will soon have a case to prosecute.

Thanks to some inspired police work, three suspects have had the spotlight shined on thier own identities and are now awaiting their day in court.

I don’t think a check payable to the bailiff will get them off the hook this time.

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Posted in Check scams, Police agencies | No Comments »