IDENTITY FRAUD – THE NEW HOT CRIME

IDENTITY FRAUD – THE NEW HOT CRIME
Identity theft – cases where thieves steal your personal data to rip through your bank or credit card accounts – is a fast-growing crime. Home office statistics estimate a 1.7 billion pounds loss over the past 12 months, which, in cash terms, is far ahead of mugging. In the US, where the crime is even more rampant, figures point to a staggering $50 billion (about 28 billion pounds) a year.
The government believes that there are at least 100,000 identity theft victims every year. Others put the figure significantly higher, as some people may not even know their accounts have been raided: identity thieves often stop short of clearing out an account to keep their crime profile low. Identity theft flourishes today because many financial transactions are not face to face. Once criminals get hold of data such as your bank account number and address, they can go on a spending spree. Terrifyingly, they do not need all your details; just a few will do.
“It’s easy,” says Glen Hastings, a reformed identity thief and author of Identity Theft, Inc. “The only prerequisite is the ability to read and write. It certainly helps to be computer literate, but it’s far from essential. I stole several hundred identities in my career.” Hastings’ modus operandi was to discover individuals with excellent credit records, the very people banks adore. By impersonating these pillars of financial rectitude, he borrowed large amounts in their name – money that he never, of course, repaid. Even your home could be at risk. Last year, a schoolteacher, who was renting out his unmortgaged Brighton home while he was working in the Far East, was the victim of an audacious identity fraud. A new “tenant” paid six months’ rent in advance but was never to spend a night there, instead, assuming the teacher’s identity using documents and items received through the post at the house. The fraudster managed to remortgage the property for 210,000 pounds, which he then took out of the country. It took the unfortunate schoolteacher months of trauma to get his house back. The mortgage company, meanwhile, has never seen a penny of its money back.
In the US, one identity victim had her details so closely associated with a $50,000 criminal spending spree that a warrant was put out in her name. The real criminal – who was also a drug dealer – never stopped using the victim’s name, even when caught and imprisoned, which led to further problems.
Hastings states that he only stole from “banks, casinos, credit card companies, airlines and big stores – never the little guy.” But we all pay for that, and in any case, most ID thieves are not so selective. And even if you get your money back – most banks and credit card companies treat victims sympathetically – you will still have weeks of worry when you may be unable to access your money and may have to prove that you did not spend 10,000 pounds on internet poker.
As an actor, Carolyn Tomkinson is used to taking other people’s identities. But when someone impersonated her and cleaned out her Nationwide account, she knew it wasn’t play-acting. “When I found out, I burst into tears,” she says. (A) “It was all my money gone overnight. Colleagues clubbed together and lent some cash, but it was awful – I felt stunned, upset, and violated.” Carolyn had taken 20 pounds from a cash machine the night before. Somehow – probably with concealed gadgetry to read her PIN and clone the card – thieves took 570 pounds from other machines in London, showing a typical fraud pattern in the way they tested her daily limit, then hit her again just after midnight. (B)
“I discovered it the next day when I wanted to take out a further 20 pounds. The machine said that I had no further credit available. I then discovered what had happened from the mini-statement. I rang Nationwide, who said they would cancel my card and asked me to report it to the police. The building society was very sympathetic, but said it could take six weeks before I got my money back. In the event, it only took a week. (C)
Architectural librarian Claudia Mernick has been “cloned” three times. The third attack was on her credit card. “I’d been out buying food one lunchtime. Almost as soon as I got home, the credit card company called me to see how I could have used my card in two places that were far from each other, at the same time. It was an obvious fraud. I was really impressed with their speed. My credit card was cancelled and it took a week or so before I had a new one. But I would like to know what happened and how to avoid it. The thieves didn’t cost me a lot of money but a lot of hassle.” (D)

Kết quả (Việt) 1:

GIAN LẬN NHẬN DẠNG-TỘI PHẠM MỚI NÓNG Identity trộm cắp-trường hợp nơi mà kẻ trộm ăn cắp dữ liệu cá nhân của bạn để sao thông qua tài khoản ngân hàng hoặc thẻ tín dụng của bạn-là một tội phạm ngày càng tăng nhanh. Trang chủ văn phòng thống kê ước tính một mất mát 1.7 tỷ pounds trong quá khứ 12 tháng, mà, trong điều kiện tiền mặt, là xa phía trước mugging. Tại Hoa Kỳ, nơi mà tội phạm là hung hăng hơn, con số điểm để một kinh ngạc $50 tỷ đồng (khoảng 28 tỷ Pao) một năm. Chính phủ tin rằng có những nạn nhân hành vi trộm cắp danh tính tối thiểu 100.000 mỗi năm. Những người khác đưa con số cao hơn đáng kể, như một số người có thể không thậm chí biết tài khoản của họ đã được đột kích: kẻ trộm danh tính thường dừng lại ngắn của giải phóng ra khỏi một tài khoản để giữ hồ sơ tội phạm của họ thấp. Đánh cắp nhận dạng thịnh vượng vào ngày hôm nay vì nhiều giao dịch tài chính không phải là mặt đối mặt. Một khi tội phạm có được giữ của dữ liệu chẳng hạn như số tài khoản ngân hàng và địa chỉ của bạn, họ có thể đi trên một spree chi tiêu. Terrifyingly, họ không cần tất cả các chi tiết của bạn; chỉ là một vài sẽ làm. “It’s easy,” says Glen Hastings, a reformed identity thief and author of Identity Theft, Inc. “The only prerequisite is the ability to read and write. It certainly helps to be computer literate, but it’s far from essential. I stole several hundred identities in my career.” Hastings’ modus operandi was to discover individuals with excellent credit records, the very people banks adore. By impersonating these pillars of financial rectitude, he borrowed large amounts in their name – money that he never, of course, repaid. Even your home could be at risk. Last year, a schoolteacher, who was renting out his unmortgaged Brighton home while he was working in the Far East, was the victim of an audacious identity fraud. A new “tenant” paid six months’ rent in advance but was never to spend a night there, instead, assuming the teacher’s identity using documents and items received through the post at the house. The fraudster managed to remortgage the property for 210,000 pounds, which he then took out of the country. It took the unfortunate schoolteacher months of trauma to get his house back. The mortgage company, meanwhile, has never seen a penny of its money back. In the US, one identity victim had her details so closely associated with a $50,000 criminal spending spree that a warrant was put out in her name. The real criminal – who was also a drug dealer – never stopped using the victim’s name, even when caught and imprisoned, which led to further problems. Hastings states that he only stole from “banks, casinos, credit card companies, airlines and big stores – never the little guy.” But we all pay for that, and in any case, most ID thieves are not so selective. And even if you get your money back – most banks and credit card companies treat victims sympathetically – you will still have weeks of worry when you may be unable to access your money and may have to prove that you did not spend 10,000 pounds on internet poker. As an actor, Carolyn Tomkinson is used to taking other people’s identities. But when someone impersonated her and cleaned out her Nationwide account, she knew it wasn’t play-acting. “When I found out, I burst into tears,” she says. (A) “It was all my money gone overnight. Colleagues clubbed together and lent some cash, but it was awful – I felt stunned, upset, and violated.” Carolyn had taken 20 pounds from a cash machine the night before. Somehow – probably with concealed gadgetry to read her PIN and clone the card – thieves took 570 pounds from other machines in London, showing a typical fraud pattern in the way they tested her daily limit, then hit her again just after midnight. (B) “I discovered it the next day when I wanted to take out a further 20 pounds. The machine said that I had no further credit available. I then discovered what had happened from the mini-statement. I rang Nationwide, who said they would cancel my card and asked me to report it to the police. The building society was very sympathetic, but said it could take six weeks before I got my money back. In the event, it only took a week. (C) Architectural librarian Claudia Mernick has been “cloned” three times. The third attack was on her credit card. “I’d been out buying food one lunchtime. Almost as soon as I got home, the credit card company called me to see how I could have used my card in two places that were far from each other, at the same time. It was an obvious fraud. I was really impressed with their speed. My credit card was cancelled and it took a week or so before I had a new one. But I would like to know what happened and how to avoid it. The thieves didn’t cost me a lot of money but a lot of hassle.” (D)