News

ID Theft Mastermind Goes Down for 14 Years

A Briton involved in what is believed to be the largest identity theft case ever has been sentenced to 14 years in prison by a New York judge strengthening the call for stricter laws governing data protection as well as  higher levels of ID card security.

Philip Cummings, 35, a computer helpdesk employee, used his job to steal personal information from more than 30,000 customers and then passed the information on to other criminals.

His activities were being carried out between early 2000 to October 2002 and he pleaded guilty in September 2004.

Judge George B Daniels is quoted as saying that the case "emphasised how easy it is to wreak havoc on people's financial and personal lives", and added that consequences for individual victims were "almost unimaginable".

Cummings, who worked for Teledata Communications - a New York-based software company that helps lenders access major credit databases - had access to clients' codes and passwords.

He would steal people's credit reports and pass them on to an accomplice, who would sell them on and share the profits with Cummings.

The stolen identities, which would sell for about $60 per name, would be used to access the unwitting victims' bank accounts and use their credit cards. Purchases would include expensive goods, including computers and electronic equipment, which they would then resell to other members of the network.

By changing a customer's personal details, the thieves could even have new credit and ATM cards mailed directly to them.

Making the fraud even more difficult to detect, more than 15,000 unauthorised credit reports were accessed by using a stolen password belonging to Ford Motor Credit. The fraud continued even after Mr Cummings left his job and moved from the State of New York to Georgia.

Whenever a company detected illegal downloads affecting one of its customers, it would disable the stolen password and subscriber code. But Cummings would simply provide the details of another customer so the scam could continue.

The losses have been estimated to be between $50m (£38m) and $100m (£76m). Mr Cummings, who is still free on bail, must report to prison on 9 March. He is also due to pay compensation to be agreed at a later date.

- END -

New Site On-line

Ver-tec have invested in launching a re-design of their Website www.v-tss.com

to enhance the service for internet users. “This revamp of our web presence gives us a further opportunity to provide more valuable information and insights for all those wanting to keep track of the fast-moving authentication space” said Ver-tec CEO Ben Bowmaker “and our website is becoming increasingly important in helping to keep our customers up-to-date and at the same time respond to the huge levels of interest from both government and commercial sectors.”

- END -