To Catch an ID Thief

[Epiphany]

Did anybody watch the show "To Catch an ID Thief" today on MSNBC? Apparently, it first aired back in 2007. It's amazing how elaborate some of these schemes are.

Often times, emotionally vulnerable individuals are enticed by a prospective online love interest into allowing their residence to be a "drop point" for illegally purchased goods with stolen credit cards, completely unbeknownst to the homeowner. They are further persuaded into using their own money to ship the products overseas to their "lovers" where they are redistributed abroad. Fascinating!

[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rjsm5PLK178"]Part 1[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1ZheUiPJJQ"]Part 2[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2bJeH2qwZg"]Part 3[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DYVKkT_U6M"]Part 4[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2DBVhZL42g"]Part 5[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utX889QwUks"]Part 6[/YOUTUBE]

Putting A Face on ID Theft


[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CQCAQwxZuU"]Part 7[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lkCjo52AMdo"]Part 8[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca88vc3AoqI"]Part 9[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jirqiX6ovRc"]Part 10[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZcmziHO8dQ"]Part 11[/YOUTUBE]
[YOUTUBE="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXrbSym4L1E"]Part 12[/YOUTUBE]

 

[highlander]

I didn't watch it yet but thanks for posting this.

 

[Atomic Fiend]

Chris Hanson strikes fear into criminals everywhere. Chris Hanson: the real Batman.

 

[highlander]

Just watched that. Good stuff.

 

[Epiphany]

I didn't watch it yet but thanks for posting this.

No problem!

It's hard to believe what people will do for foreign strangers on the internet.
The moral of the story, THINK.

Yeah, it's hard to feel sorry for the guy. He planned to cheat on his wife with a beautiful young millionaire who he never met and completely fell for it. If you're that stupid then you deserve to get scammed.

Just watched that. Good stuff.

Agreed. Unfortunately, the only advice they give is to check your balance for unusual transactions, which is reactive instead of proactive.

Chris Hanson strikes fear into criminals everywhere. Chris Hanson: the real Batman.

It's true! Chris Hansen is the face of intimidation.

 

[Epiphany]

I didn't realize that the entire broadcast wasn't on the first six videos. It was a 2 hr special on television. I posted the second part, "Putting A Face on ID Theft," below the first half. Chris Hansen traces the source of the conspiracy to Africa and discovers who is really behind the alleged mastermind, "Wendy."

 

[Epiphany]

Wha?? He was married? Ooops. I missed that part.

Apparently, the woman who answered the door the first three times when they went to their house was his wife. They said that they were a couple.

 

[Epiphany]

but, but he said he was getting married to the girl in australia.

Maybe he planned to divorce his wife. He doesn't seem like the sharpest tool in the shed. I'm sure it made sense to him.

 

[highlander]

Agreed. Unfortunately, the only advice they give is to check your balance for unusual transactions, which is reactive instead of proactive.

There is better advice.

Purchase Identity Theft protection, like LifeLock. This only gives you partial protection though.

You should keep antivirus and antispyware up to date but that only catches about 1/3 of what is out there

Don't use Internet Banking. If you do, have a dedicated computer that you use for highly sensitive transactions like this or for your brokerage account. Change your password often and don't use the same passwords for really important accounts like that as you do for other things. If your bank doesn't offer security tokens for home banking (one time password, like SecureID), go to another bank.

I'm also leery of using debit cards. Credit cards are fine.

I don't know what to say about somebody who is sending packages to Africa to his beautiful fiance that he has never met.