Identity Theft Reports Continue To Amaze

Back in the 1990s, identity theft reports were virtually unheard of. Surprisingly though, identity theft and the fraud that is associated with it, was a multi-billion dollar criminal activity. With more and more users coming online, many being totally unaware of the risks to their personal and business affairs, the market for this criminal activity is literally booming.

A major factor for the uptrend in online fraud is that the Western World, in particular the US, appears as an easy target with the ever increasing usage of plastic. When you consider how easy and common place it is now for someone to shop online, and order some goods or services, not from downtown, but from the other side of the globe, is it any wonder that crime has also gone global?

Identity Theft Reports Raise Eyebrows In The US Commerce and Law Circles

The Wo Hop To Case stands out as one of the most remarkable instances of fraudulent criminal identity theft in recent times. The Asian gang not only used legitimate US card holders, but also the power of the US Federal Law to keep their plans on track.

Very cunningly, the gang had set up a bona fide counterfeit credit card factory in the US, importing all necessary equipment in from Hong Kong. Shrudely, a quality control process was also put in place in order to test the cloned cards at gas stations, stores and other establishments.

The Spin

To give you an idea of how intelligent these gangs were, they employed genuine card holders to deposit counterfeit bank checks into their accounts, effectively overpaying. Once the account was in a credit balance, the gang member would test out the new available funds.

Goods would be purchased that would then be fenced out, with the new recruit being able to pocket a proportion of the proceeds. Although, there may have been an impact upon their personal credit report scores, eventually the recruit would move to avoid any liability by filing for credit protection via assistance of the Federal Bankruptcy Laws.

The criminal scheme was so successful as it proved to be extremely simple to get new recruits. With the Federal Law behind them, the gang members felt protected, and of course, they made a lot of money. One recruit was reported to have made over $615k within a 12 month period!

It is estimated that the gang had impacted on over a hundred financial institutions, costing the credit card companies approximately $100million.

Judging by complaints received by the FTC and identity theft statistics, credit card fraud is thought the be the primary focus in identity theft cases throughout America.

When this now notorious case occurred in the mid-1990s, many predicted the end of credit cards within a few short years and that all paperless transactions would be amalgamated into one plastic card. Even when applying for a loan, it was envisaged that the human element would be totally removed, leaving just the plastic and the ATM machine.

Although this has still not come to pass, identity theft has put the US on the defensive and we must all take the necessary measures to ensure we secure our personal and business information. Many will continue to fall prey to this criminal activity, but we can take steps not to add to the identity theft reports.