A recidivist ID theft fraudster who used a people search website to verify the authenticity of stolen social security credentials has been jailed for more than 16 years. Todd Yurgin, 41, of Newark, Delaware, earned the severe sentence because he had twice previously been convicted of federal fraud offences. In sentencing, …

COMMENTS

House rules Send corrections

This topic is closed for new posts.

Tuesday 29th March 2011 10:56 GMT Jess--

mildly innovative = seriously dumb

if he hadn't been putting charges through his own company he probably would't have been caught so easily, 342 fraudulent cards all being used to buy services from the same company leaves a pretty clear trail.

2 0
Tuesday 29th March 2011 11:03 GMT Anonymous Coward

children with credit cards?

How did he get credit cards (or bank accounts) for the children??

I am sure that mine would like to know

4 0
1. Tuesday 29th March 2011 12:02 GMT Jedit
  
  "Fraud" should be a hint
  
  Say I have the name, address and SSN of John P, aged 16. I go to Bank X that asks for name, address and SSN to confirm identity and input their details, but in the date of birth slot I put a date that matches my apparent age. The bank checks the name, address and SSN and finds they are valid, so it stops there and does not check the DOB. I spend a couple of months paying fixed sums into the account from my company to give the appearance of receiving a regular wage, then I go to the credit card company armed with evidence that I'm John P and I'm old enough to have a card. They run a check, find a clean history, and give me the card. I then withdraw all the money I've put into the John P account, run up a stack of charges on the card and flee.
  
  Of course, if you try following those steps to the letter you'll be caught and jailed because there are loads of things I'm not mentioning - but then the aim is not to turn El Reg into The Fraudsters Handbook. This is just a basic explanation of how it might be done.
  
  0 1
  1. Tuesday 29th March 2011 13:00 GMT Mark 65
    
    @Jedit
    
    It actually seems worse than that as in the article it states he was using valid numbers and fictitious names - that really is a shit level of ID verification. I'd have thought they could confirm, or should be able to confirm, that name, DoB and SSN all match up at least.
    
    1 0
Tuesday 29th March 2011 11:29 GMT Roger Greenwood

recidivist

Pity we can't apply the three strike rule to companies who repeatedly break the law (mentioning no names of course).

1 0
1. Wednesday 30th March 2011 08:48 GMT thecakeis(not)alie
  
  Or...
  
  ...political parties in charge of countries....
  
  0 0
Tuesday 29th March 2011 11:29 GMT John Smith 19

The US system big cash -> long term

And note this is *not* a "victimless" crime.

As anyone whose tried to get a loan or mortgage after their credit rating has been trashed will tell you.

1 0
Tuesday 29th March 2011 12:00 GMT Anonymous Coward

In gaol....

...no one can hear you scream.

0 0
Tuesday 29th March 2011 20:02 GMT Anonymous Coward

Three Strike Law, and it's consequences

The three strike system is usually implemented by politicians wanting to sound tough on crime, however the logical outcome, given enough criminals and crimes, is fairly obvious;

Spend the rest of your life in jail for id theft (usually a non-violent crime), or eliminate the person who could put you in jail for the rest of your life.

Whilst it is good that criminals are brought to justice, the time should fit the crime, and hence should distinguish between violent and non-violent offences.

0 0