From: Robert Hettinga <rah@shipwright.com>
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1998 21:41:48 +0800
To: cypherpunks@cyberpass.net
Subject: IP: ISPI Clips 6.16: Using Credit Reports Crooks Assume YourIdentity & Buy Luxury Cars
Message-ID: <v04020a29b268a14c152f@[139.167.130.246]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain




--- begin forwarded text


Delivered-To: ignition-point@majordomo.pobox.com
From: "ama-gi ISPI" <offshore@email.msn.com>
To: <Undisclosed.Recipients@majordomo.pobox.com>
Subject: IP: ISPI Clips 6.16: Using Credit Reports Crooks Assume Your
Identity & Buy Luxury Cars
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1998 00:26:20 -0800
MIME-Version: 1.0
X-Priority: 3
X-MSMail-Priority: Normal
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3
Sender: owner-ignition-point@majordomo.pobox.com
Precedence: list
Reply-To: "ama-gi ISPI" <offshore@email.msn.com>

ISPI Clips 6.16: Using Credit Reports Crooks Assume Your Identity & Buy
Luxury Cars
News & Info from the Institute for the Study of Privacy Issues (ISPI)
Friday November 6, 1998
ISPI4Privacy@ama-gi.com
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This From: The Las Angeles Times, Friday, October 23, 1998
http://www.latimes.com

Grand Theft Auto Enters the Computer Age
http://www.latimes.com/HOME/NEWS/LIFE/AUTO/AUTONEWS/t000096175.html

    Crime: Hackers are using cyberspace to obtain credit information
    and purchase luxury vehicles under assumed identities.

By
SCOTT GLOVER,
Times Staff Writer

In a new twist on an old crime, computer-savvy thieves have begun hacking
into credit files and fabricating drivers' licenses, then walking into car
dealerships and buying luxury cars under assumed identities, authorities
said.

After putting about $10,000 down for a new $120,000 Mercedes-Benz,
authorities say, the thief then drives off the lot, leaving behind a
commission-happy salesperson. Within a week, they say, the car will most
likely be in a container bound for resale on foreign shores.

"The problem is growing on a monthly basis," said John Bryan, a Los Angeles
County sheriff's captain who runs a regional anti-car-theft unit.

Bryan estimated that members of his Taskforce for Regional Autotheft
Prevention, or TRAP, arrested about 60 people in 1997 who were running such
scams.

One of last year's victims was Los Angeles County Supervisor Yvonne
Brathwaite Burke and her husband, William.

In her case, Burke said a con artist took her name from the newspaper and
paid a Georgia jeweler to run a credit check on her to obtain more
information. She said the man then obtained a driver's license in William
Burke's name and went on a spending spree.

Using the Burkes' credit information, the man bought four Yamaha WaveRunner
personal water vehicles and a BMW and tried to purchase a Mercedes-Benz and
Ford Thunderbird.

"We were getting bills in the mail every day," Burke said. "It was driving
me crazy."

She said the man was finally caught when he brought the BMW back to the
dealership to have a trailer hitch installed so he could pull the
WaveRunner behind the car.

In another case last year, authorities said a man established a dummy real
estate company to obtain personal credit histories, then used the
information to make more than $1 million in fraudulent purchases, including
several cars.

Bryan said another scam involved fraudulent applications for car purchases
at a San Gabriel Valley dealership. In that case, investigators seized
eight cars and believe as many as 40 more were purchased and illegally
sold.

The thieves generally don't shop for bargains either, Bryan said.

"They go for Mercedeses, BMWs, Lexuses, you name it."

Bryan said the thieves are typically well-dressed--sometimes even in
suits--and have a calm demeanor as they "shop" for a car.

"They walk in there looking like they can afford it," he said. "They know
what they're doing."

Bryan said the average price of a stolen car is about $60,000, and that
most of those who have been arrested are suspected of stealing numerous
cars.

The thieves usually make tens of thousands of dollars' profit on a single
sale.

Because cases are time-consuming and difficult to prove, Bryan said, an
offender is often charged with only one theft.

The crimes could result in several charges, including grand theft auto and
credit card fraud, punishable by a minimum of three years in prison,
according to a spokesman for the district attorney's office.

Popular markets for the stolen vehicles include China, numerous republics
of the former Soviet Union and the United Arab Emirates, police said.

People who have had their identities stolen and used to purchase the cars
are not liable, Bryan said.

Burke said, even though she was in a position to put pressure on
authorities to solve the case, she spent months trying to clean up her
credit.

"It was a nightmare," she said. "And it could happen to anybody."

Copyright 1998 Los Angeles Times.


--------------------------------NOTICE:------------------------------
ISPI Clips are news & opinion articles on privacy issues from
all points of view; they are clipped from local, national and international
newspapers, journals and magazines, etc. Inclusion as an ISPI Clip
does not necessarily reflect an endorsement of the content or opinion
by ISPI. In compliance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is
distributed free without profit or payment for non-profit research
and educational purposes only.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

ISPI Clips is a FREE e-mail service from the "Institute for the Study
of Privacy Issues" (ISPI). To receive "ISPI Clips" on a regular bases
(up to 3 - 8 clips per day) send the following message  "Please
enter [Your Name] into the ISPI Clips list: [Your e-mail address]" to:
ISPIClips@ama-gi.com  .

The Institute for the Study of Privacy Issues (ISPI) is a small
contributor-funded organization based in Victoria, British Columbia
(Canada). ISPI operates on a not-for-profit basis, accepts no
government funding and takes a global perspective.

ISPI's mandate is to conduct & promote interdisciplinary research
into electronic, personal and  financial privacy with a view toward
helping ordinary people understand the degree of privacy they have
with respect to government, industry and each other and to likewise
inform them about techniques to enhance their privacy.

But, none of this can be accomplished without your kind and
generous financial support. If you are concerned about the erosion
of your privacy in general, won't you please help us continue this
important work by becoming an "ISPI Supporter" or by taking out
an institute Membership?

We gratefully accept all contributions:

  Less than $60    ISPI Supporter
          $60 - $99    Primary ISPI Membership (1 year)
      $100 - $300    Senior ISPI Membership (2 years)
More than $300    Executive Council Membership (life)

Your ISPI "membership" contribution entitles you to receive "The ISPI
Privacy Reporter" (our bi-monthly 12 page hard-copy newsletter in
multi-contributor format) for the duration of your membership.

For a contribution form with postal instructions please send the following
message "ISPI Contribution Form" to ISPI4Privacy@ama-gi.com .

We maintain a strict privacy policy. Any information you divulge to ISPI
is kept in strict confidence. It will not be sold, lent or given away to
any third party.










****************************************************
To subscribe or unsubscribe, email:
     majordomo@majordomo.pobox.com
with the message:
     (un)subscribe ignition-point email@address

or (un)subscribe ignition-point-digest email@address
****************************************************
www.telepath.com/believer
****************************************************

--- end forwarded text


-----------------
Robert A. Hettinga <mailto: rah@philodox.com>
Philodox Financial Technology Evangelism <http://www.philodox.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'