Fw: Hacker Uses Forbes List to Steal

Carlos Macedo Gomes gomes at navigo.com
Wed Mar 21 17:58:31 PST 2001


----- Original Message -----
To: <reclaimthestreets at listbot.com>
Sent: Wednesday, March 21, 2001 6:34 PM
Subject: Hacker Uses Forbes List to Steal


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> >Hacker Uses Forbes List to Steal
> >
> >
> >By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
> >
> >
> >
> >Filed at 8:46 p.m. ET
> >
> >
> >
> >NEW YORK (AP) -- A restaurant busboy is accused of using the
> >Internet and Forbes' list of the richest people in America in a
> >scheme to steal millions from such figures as Steven Spielberg,
> >Warren Buffett, Martha Stewart, Oprah Winfrey, Ross Perot and Ted
> >Turner.
> >
> >Police are calling it one of the most ambitious identify-theft
> >schemes they have seen. They are still tracing the complex
> >electronic trail to determine exactly how much was stolen, but fear
> >it could be well into the millions.
> >
> >New York police investigators arrested Abraham Abdallah, a
> >32-year-old high school dropout, on March 7 as he allegedly picked
> >up equipment to make phony credit cards.
> >
> >Court papers say Abdallah was carrying the Social Security numbers,
> >home addresses and birth dates of 217 CEOs, celebrities and
> >tycoons. The information was scribbled in the margins of a tattered
> >copy of Forbes' ``The 400 Richest People in America.''
> >
> >Abdallah, police say, also had more than 400 stolen credit card
> >numbers, including some that were used to buy about $100,000 of
> >dollars of computer equipment and gold coins.
> >
> >``All those people ... have not been compromised,'' said Chief of
> >Detectives William Allee, referring to the Forbes 400. ``The ones
> >we believe have been compromised, we've contacted.''
> >
> >Abdallah, charged with multiple counts of criminal impersonation,
> >forgery and fraud, is being held on $1 million bail. Authorities
> >said he has a long record of arrests for various schemes, and at
> >the time of his arrest was on supervised release for a federal bank
> >fraud conviction. He once even appeared as an ``expert'' on a
> >training video on fraud prevention prepared for credit card
> >companies.
> >
> >Defense attorney Sam Gregory said Abdallah is innocent. Prosecutors
> >``made an unfair leap from possession of this information to an
> >inference that there was an attempt to take money,'' said Gregory,
> >who declined further comment.
> >
> >Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik described Abdallah as ``someone
> >who was very innovative, very creative. ... He didn't try to pry.
> >He was very organized. He would go one step at a time to build his
> >database.''
> >
> >The alleged scheme was uncovered when an e-mail request to transfer
> >$10 million from a Merrill Lynch account belonging to Thomas
> >Siebel, founder of Siebel Systems, raised red flags, police said.
> >
> >Siebel said he never made the request and Merrill Lynch contacted
> >authorities.
> >
> >The trail of evidence led police to mailboxes rented by Abdallah
> >under the names of Paul Allen, co-founder of Microsoft, and James
> >Cayne, head of Bear Stearns, court papers said. He allegedly used
> >the addresses to order merchandise using their credit card numbers.
> >
> >A spokesman for Allen said the businessman was cooperating with
> >authorities. Turner, media mogul Michael Bloomberg and Spielberg
> >were unaware that their identities may have been stolen,
> >representatives said. Cayne, Perot, Winfrey, Buffet and Stewart
> >declined comment.
> >
> >A spokeswoman for George Lucas said the movie producer had not been
> >affected by alleged scam.
> >
> >Investigators say Abdallah used computers at a local library,
> >Web-enabled cell phones and virtual voicemail during a six-month
> >scam that involved duping credit reporting companies such as
> >Equifax into providing reports on his rich victims.
> >
> >He allegedly used the data to gain access to credit cards and
> >accounts at brokerage houses such as Goldman Sachs, Bear Stearns
> >and Merrill Lynch.
> >
> >Equifax said it had no evidence of fraudulent access to its files,
> >and had not yet been contacted by authorities.
> >
> >Experts said the case was a glaring example of how access to
> >private data on the Internet has helped make identity fraud one of
> >the fastest growing white-collar crimes.
> >
> >Martin Biegelman, a former Postal Service inspector, recalled using
> >Abdallah to make the training video as part of a plea deal in the
> >mid-1980s.
> >
> >``He agreed to go on camera as a reformed criminal,'' Biegelman
> >said. ``He was talking about fraud, how easy it was. ... He said he
> >wasn't going to do it again.''
> >
>
>http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/business/AP-Forbes-List-Hacker.html?searchpv=ap
online?ex=986212427&ei=1&en=78f1197e591527ee
> >
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