Below is an excerpt from the case:

Nancy Meyer was the victim of fraud when her live-in fiancé stole convenience checks from two of her credit cards and forged her signature to cash those checks. The question presented in this motion is whether defendant F.I.A. Card Services, N.A. (“FIA”) has shown its investigation into that fraud was reasonable such that, as a matter of law, it met its obligations under the Fair Credit Reporting Act when Meyer alerted it to the fraud. Since FIA knew the nature of the fraud and had specific requests from credit reporting agencies (“CRAs”) to verify the signatures on the checks, which it did not do, the Court finds that FIA has not made such a showing and denies FIA’s motion for summary judgment.

Meyer v FIA Card Services (D. Minn., Civil No: 09-2726)

Thomas Parkin, 49, was charged Wednesday in the bizarre plot to impersonate his deceased mother so he could collect $117,000 in government benefits. He and the man accused of being his accomplice, Mhilton Rimolo, pleaded not guilty to grand larceny, criminal impersonation and other charges.

Both men were ordered held on $1 million bail. Their lawyers did not immediately respond to phone messages left on Wednesday.

District Attorney Charles Hynes said the scam was “unparalleled in its scope and brazenness.”

Authorities claim that following his arrest, Parkin told them that because he held Prusik when she breathed her last breath, “I am my mother.”

Parkin, who lived with his mother, was accused of hatching the scheme after she passed away in 2003 at age 73. He managed to conceal the death by falsifying her death certificate, then collected $52,000 from her $700-a-month Social Security checks over the next six years, prosecutors said.

Authorities say Parkin also got another $65,000 in rent subsidies by falsely claiming he had a disability and that his mother was still alive and was his landlord.

Parkin used his friend Rimolo to pose as the mother’s nephew when going to cash checks and do other business, prosecutors said. A security camera photo from the DMV office shows a frail-looking Parkin in a wig and dark glasses, Rimolo by his side, as he fills out paperwork.

The ruse began to unravel amid a dispute over the mother’s home, which was sold at foreclosure in 2003. Parkin challenged the purchase by suing the new owner on his mother’s behalf so he wouldn’t be evicted.

As the property dispute dragged out, both sides eventually contacted the district attorney to accuse each other of fraud. By the time investigators arranged a meeting with the family in May, they already had proof Prusik was dead: a photo of her tombstone in a local cemetery.

The investigators played along as Parkin showed up for the interview “wearing a red cardigan, lipstick, manicured nails and breathing through an oxygen tank,” prosecutors said.

We wish to notify you again that you were listed as a beneficiary to the total sum of Four million Six hundred thousand British Pounds Sterling in the intent of the deceased (names now withheld since this is our second letter to you). We contacted you because you bear the surname identity and therefore can present you as the beneficiary to the inheritance since there is no written will.Our legal services aim to provide our private clients with a complete service.

We are happy to prepare wills, set-up and administer Trusts, carry out the administration of estates and prepare and administer powers of attorney.All the papers will be processed in your acceptance. In your acceptance of this deal, we request that you kindly forward your letter of acceptance, your current telephone and fax numbers and a forwarding address to enable us file necessary documents at our High court probate division for the release of this sum of money.
Yours faithfully,

Barr. Rick Chase
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM

Three of the defendants are U.S. citizens, one is from Estonia, three are from Ukraine, two are from the People’s Republic of China and one is from Belarus. One individual is only known by an alias online, and his place of origin is unknown.

In an indictment returned on Aug. 5, 2008, by a federal grand jury in Boston, Albert “Segvec” Gonzalez, of Miami, was charged with computer fraud, wire fraud, access device fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy for his role in the scheme. Criminal informations were also released today in Boston on related charges against Christopher Scott and Damon Patrick Toey, both of Miami.

The Boston indictment alleges that during the course of the sophisticated conspiracy, Gonzalez and his co-conspirators obtained the credit and debit card numbers by “wardriving” and hacking into the wireless computer networks of major retailers — including TJX Companies, BJ’s Wholesale Club, OfficeMax, Boston Market, Barnes & Noble, Sports Authority, Forever 21 and DSW. Once inside the networks, they installed “sniffer” programs that would capture card numbers, as well as password and account information, as they moved through the retailers’ credit and debit processing networks.

The indictment alleges that after they collected the data, the conspirators concealed the data in encrypted computer servers that they controlled in Eastern Europe and the United States. They allegedly sold some of the credit and debit card numbers, via the Internet, to other criminals in the United States and Eastern Europe. The stolen numbers were “cashed out” by encoding card numbers on the magnetic strips of blank cards. The defendants then used these cards to withdraw tens of thousands of dollars at a time from ATMs. Gonzalez and others were allegedly able to conceal and launder their fraud proceeds by using anonymous Internet-based currencies both within the United States and abroad, and by channeling funds through bank accounts in Eastern Europe.

Gonzalez was previously arrested by the Secret Service in 2003 for access device fraud. During the course of this investigation, the Secret Service discovered that Gonzalez, who was working as a confidential informant for the agency, was criminally involved in the case. Because of the size and scope of his criminal activity, Gonzalez faces a maximum penalty of life in prison if he is convicted of all the charges alleged in the Boston indictment.

Also today, indictments were unsealed in San Diego against scheme participant Maksym “Maksik” Yastremskiy, of Kharkov, Ukraine, and Aleksandr “Jonny Hell” Suvorov, of Sillamae, Estonia. The indictments charge the defendants with crimes related to the sale of the stolen credit card data that Gonzalez and others illegally obtained, as well as additional stolen credit card data. Suvorov is charged with conspiracy to possess unauthorized access devices, possession of unauthorized access devices, trafficking in unauthorized access devices, identity theft, aggravated identity theft, and aiding and abetting. Yastremskiy is charged with trafficking in unauthorized access devices, identity theft, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy to launder monetary instruments. The indictment also contains a forfeiture allegation.

In addition, an indictment against Hung-Ming Chiu and Zhi Zhi Wang, both of the People’s Republic of China, and a person known only by the online nickname “Delpiero,” was also unsealed in San Diego today. Chiu, Wang and Delpiero are charged with conspiracy to possess unauthorized access devices, trafficking in unauthorized access devices, trafficking in counterfeit access devices, possession of unauthorized access devices, aggravated identity theft, and aiding and abetting. Also in San Diego, Sergey Pavolvich, of Belarus, and Dzmitry Burak and Sergey Storchak, both of Ukraine, were charged in a criminal complaint with conspiracy to traffic in unauthorized access devices. All are believed to be foreign nationals residing outside of the United States.

The San Diego charges allege that Yastremskiy, Suvorov, Chiu, Wang, Delpiero, Pavolvich, Burak and Storchak operated an international stolen credit and debit card distribution ring with operations from Ukraine, Belarus, Estonia, the People’s Republic of China, the Philippines and Thailand. The indictments allege that each of the defendants sold stolen credit and debit card information for personal gain. For example, the indictment of Yastremskiy alleges that he received proceeds exceeding $11 million from this criminal activity. These indictments and complaints are the result of a three-year undercover investigation conducted out of the San Diego Field Office of the U.S. Secret Service.

In May 2008, Gonzalez, Suvorov and Yastremskiy also were charged in a related indictment in the Eastern District of New York. The New York charges allege that the trio was engaged in a sophisticated scheme to hack into computer networks run by the Dave & Buster’s restaurant chain, and stole credit and debit card numbers from at least 11 locations. Specifically, the indictment alleges that the defendants gained unauthorized access to the cash register terminals and installed at each restaurant a “packet sniffer,” a computer code designed to capture communications on a computer network. The packet sniffer was configured to capture credit and debit card numbers as this information was processed by the restaurants. At one restaurant location, the packet sniffer captured data for approximately 5,000 credit and debit cards, eventually causing losses of at least $600,000 to the financial institutions that issued the credit and debit cards.

Gonzalez is currently in pre-trial confinement on the New York charges. Based upon the San Diego charges, Turkish officials apprehended Yastremskiy in July 2007 in Turkey when he travelled there on vacation. He has been in confinement since then in Turkey, pending the resolution of related Turkish charges, and the United States has made a formal request for his extradition. At the request of the Department of Justice, Suvorov was apprehended by the German Federal Police in Frankfurt in March 2008 on the San Diego charges when he travelled there on vacation. He is currently in confinement pending the resolution of extradition proceedings.

“So far as we know, this is the single largest and most complex identity theft case ever charged in this country,” said Attorney General Mukasey. “It highlights the efforts of the Justice Department to fight this pernicious crime and shows that, with the cooperation of our law enforcement partners around the world, we can identify, charge and apprehend even the most sophisticated international computer hackers.”

“While technology has made our lives much easier it has also created new vulnerabilities.  This case clearly shows how strokes on a keyboard with a criminal purpose can have costly results.  Consumers, companies and governments from around the world must further develop ways to protect our sensitive personal and business information and detect those, whether here or abroad, that conspire to exploit technology for criminal gain,” said U.S. Attorney Michael J. Sullivan.

“These prosecutions demonstrate that, through coordinated commitment, the United States Secret Service and the Department of Justice will penetrate and prosecute hacker organizations, wherever based and however sophisticated. The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California is especially gratified that the work of the San Diego field office of the Secret Service contributed to an unprecedented effort to dismantle this international criminal enterprise,” said Karen P. Hewitt, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California.

“Computer hacking and identity theft pose serious risks to our commercial, personal and financial security,” said U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Benton J. Campbell. “Hackers who reach into our country from abroad will find no refuge from the reach of U.S. criminal justice.”

“Technology has forever changed the way commerce is conducted, virtually erasing geographic boundaries,” said U.S. Secret Service Director Mark Sullivan. “While these advances and the global nature of cyber crime continue to have a profound impact on our financial crimes investigations, this case demonstrates how combining law enforcement resources throughout the world sends a strong message to criminals that they will be pursued and prosecuted no matter where they reside.”

“The Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division recommends charges in numerous types of financial crimes,” said Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) Chief Eileen Mayer. “Today’s indictment is the result of a strong law enforcement partnership that brings together the necessary skills to follow alleged criminal activity from cyberspace to bank accounts.  We are committed to the government’s efforts to stop this type of corruptive activity.” 

These cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Heymann of the District of Massachusetts, Assistant U.S. Attorney Orlando Gutierrez of the Southern District of California, Assistant U.S. Attorney Will Campos of the Eastern District of New York, and by Senior Counsel Kimberly Kiefer Peretti, and Trial Attorneys Jenny Ellickson and Evan Williams of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime & Intellectual Property Section. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs provided extensive assistance related to extradition matters. All of theses cases are being investigated by the U.S. Secret Service. The IRS-CI provided significant investigatory assistance in the Boston case.

Source – Department of Justice

A few years later, a collection agency called my Mothers House, and left a message. She called them back asking what it was about, and they told her.
I called them, as soon as she told me about it, and read them the riot act for discussing my financial affairs with anyone other than myself, and further disputing that any amount originating from that account to be fraudulent, as it had been charged by thieves. Then things got quiet again.

Then last year a letter was sent to my mothers house from Troon Company,LLC.  My mother held it for me and I called them and gave them my phone number and address and further disputed the amount as fraudulent. I also warned them not to harass my mother anymore, that they now had a way to get a hold of me, and had no reason to contact her any longer. They have since sent more letters to her house.

Recently, I have contacted them and asked to speak with a supervisor. After our discussion, he said that he would cancel the account and stop trying to collect on me if I could offer up some proof that the balance was not mine, that it was in fact fraudulent. He also said he would put the account “on hold” for two weeks but after that he would send it to his “legal department”.

Does this mean That I should get a Police affidavit and direct it to his attention?

Matt 

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Hello Matt,

A letter stating the account is not yours and is the result of fraud.  Make the statement “I declare under penalty of perjury that these statements are true and correct.”  Then have your signature notarized.  You’ve now created an affidavit and that should suffice as “proof that the balance was not mine”.

Throw in a cease communication, send by CMRRR, and call it a day.

Thanks for the questions and hope this helps.

Paul

This author is not an attorney and this information should not be considered legal advice.  Please consult an attorney for legal advice.

Rob

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Hello Rob,

A debt resulting from identity theft isn’t legally collectable and won’t result in discharge of indebtedness income to a victim of ID theft. 

In Zarin v Comm’r (916 F2d 110 – 3rd Cir, 1990) it was decided that $2,935,000 cancellation of indebtedness wasn’t taxable income for the consumer because the debt itself was illegal. 

Thanks for the questions and hope this helps.

Paul

This author is not an attorney or an accountant and this information should not be considered legal or tax advice.  Please consult an attorney for legal advice.  Please consult an tax professional for tax advice.

Thanks to your site I was able to delete 6 items off one report and 4 off another.  I am now waiting for my last bit of investigation. 

Thank you for all your great advise.

Robin

Sloane v. Equifax [Decided: December 27, 2007]

Kenny

“DeKalb police have found boxes of sensitive information from a mortgage company carelessly tossed in the trash.

The mortgage company – Ameriquest — may ring a bell. It closed up shop in Georgia nearly two years ago amid allegations of predatory lending.

So why, now, are hundreds of customers’ personal files showing up in a very public place? It is the last place one would expect to find hundreds of confidential mortgage files — in a dumpster behind a DeKalb County apartment complex.

“They basically contain mortgage applications from Ameriquest customers,” said DeKalb Deputy Police Chief Mike Burrows.

Boxes and boxes of tax returns, credit histories and social security numbers. Strange, considering Ameriquest stopped doing business in Georgia nearly two years ago amid allegations of predatory lending.”

Click here for the Ameriquest Dumpster Video.