MasterCard and Visa are alerting banks nationwide about a security breach that occurred in January and February at a company that processes credit cards and debit cards for banks and merchants. The company, Global Payments Inc., says its processor was compromised between Jan. 21, 2012 and Feb. 25, 2012. According to the blog Krebs on Security, "Track 1 and Track 2 data was taken - meaning that the information could be used to counterfeit new cards." One thing the compromised cards have in common? NYC parking garages! more ›

Surprise: using "zany" internet deal services like Groupon leads to eating in restaurants you don't even like and doing stuff (discount colon cleansing anyone?) you never wanted to do in the first place. Americans are preconditioned to snatch up a deal, no matter how pointless. But in browsing Groupon's site for some answers we stumbled upon Clicky, the "Value Wheel," that could score you as little as $5 and as much as $100 in savings off already rock-bottom Groupon deals. The catch? Groupon gets the keys to your identity. Gotta love those 1:1000 odds! more ›

The Queens DA's office just announced (PDF) that 111 people have been "indicted in the largest identity theft takedown in U.S. history." The scheme spanned from Queens to Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, and it's believed the losses total more than $13 million over 16 months. more ›

A Bronx ladies man/con man has been accused of being the ringleader of a $1 million identity theft ring. Richard Dames, better known as "Geovanni Kasanova," and two others were charged with stealing the identities of 80 victims over the past three years. And it seems that Kasanova was truly a Dirty Rotten Scoundrel, seducing at least two bank tellers into giving him access: "He set her up. She's an overweight, shy girl who doesn't date a lot - to her he's a Casanova," said attorney Anthony Evans about his client Malika Williams, who was convinced she was in a real relationship with Kasanova. more ›

Tomorrow is Shred Fest 2011! Hello Springton, are you ready to SHRED? WE CAN'T HEAR YOU! On Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at 16 locations throughout the city, you'll be able to bring mail and other documents that contain personal information—such as bank statements, paycheck stubs and credit card applications—to be shredded, securely disposed of and recycled for free. And as if that wasn't exciting enough, the first four people to arrive ready to shred at each location will receive a complimentary personal paper shredder donated by Staples. Unfortunately, city employees are not eligible to get the free shredders—sorry, NYPD! more ›

The internet is a dark, cruel place, filled with trolls and idiots trying to bombard you with their conspiracy theories or trying to one-up each other with racist jokes. But Assemblyman Micah Kellner wants to change all of that. In a new bill, Kellner would not only want to make identity theft a crime, but cyberbullying as well. "Over the past few years, we have seen an increase in a more personal kind of impersonation: the use of Internet anonymity to harass individuals," the bill states. Presumably to prove Kellner's point, one Daily News commenter demonstrated the role of a typical cyberbully: "The Politicians can't handle the thought of Blogger's and Post's, from people without their identity exposed. Orwellian at it's best." more ›

Dmitriy Yakovlev, the Russian immigrant who, along with his wife, was charged with stealing the identities of at least two missing people, was found guilty by a jury yesterday after seven hours of deliberation. His wife Julia Yakovlev pleaded guilty to her part in the identity thefts last month. Though prosecutors made clear their belief that Yakovlev, who was a surgeon before emigrating, killed the people whose identities he stole, he was not charged with any murders due to a lack of evidence. more ›

Dmitriy Yakovlev is currently on trial for the murders and subsequent identity thefts of two people, one of which was found dead and disarticulated in the New Jersey woods in 2005. A vampire mask was found next to the body of Viktor Alekseyev, but tests have shown no fingerprint or DNA evidence linking the mask to Yakovlev. However, prosecutors argue that's because the former surgeon may have used gloves. "Don't you think the person who would think to wear gloves is the surgeon?" said Assistant Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Amanda Hector. "The defendant wasn't sloppy, he was the scariest kind of murderer because he was careful." more ›

Is your local Starbucks a hotbed of criminal activity? Senator Chuck Schumer sent letters to websites like Twitter and Yahoo to switch their websites from standard HTTP protocol to the secure HTTPS protocol, because hackers have it way too easy finding your information off the WiFi networks in coffee shops and bookstores. He said in a statement, "It is scary how easy it is. Free WiFi networks provide hackers, identity thieves and spammers alike with a smorgasbord of opportunities to steal private user information like passwords, usernames, and credit card information." Otherwise, they'd just come to steal your stuff in person after finding out where you checked in on Facebook. more ›

Normally finding a vampire mask near a dead body would be pretty creepy, but that happens to be the least disturbing thing about the case of Dmitriy Yakovlev, who is on trial for stealing the identity of New York jewelry importer Viktor Alekseyev and two other people and murdering two of the victims. Alekseyev's body was found disarticulated and separated between three garbage bags in the woods in New Jersey in 2006, and prosecutors gave more gruesome details at his trial yesterday. more ›

One day after the anniversary of Malcolm X's assassination, daughter Malikah Shabazz faces extradition to New York after being arrested in North Carolina on charges of identity theft. Warrants for her arrest were issued by the Queens DA office last June for obtaining credit in the name of Khaula Bakr, the widow of of one of Malcolm X's bodyguards. She was found when police came to her Asheville to ask why her 13-year-old daughter hadn't been attending school. more ›

We understand that Apple computers and phones cost a lot of money, but if we were a member of a "traveling band" of grifters, we'd probably use that credit card info on something with a little more panache. Manhattan DA Cy Vance's Cyber Crimes Unit and the Secret Service arraigned a group of seven men and one woman for making fake credit cards with stolen identities and buying $1 million worth of iPods, Macbooks and clothing across the country. What, no new cars? No first-class flights to Paris? C'mon guys, live a little! more ›

President Obama has given the U.S. Commerce Department authority to create a national cybersecurity "ecosystem" that will include a unique Internet ID for Americans. At a forum with Silicon Valley business and academic leaders at Stanford University, U.S. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke and White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard A. Schmidt announced the broad outline of the plan. And don't worry, this is not some Orwellian conspiracy to put an end Internet anonymity—at least, that's what the Government says. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke explains: more ›

One of the weirder cases involving paternal pride, ancient texts and the Internet has concluded (well, until the appeal): A NY lawyer was found guilty of dozens of charges, including identity theft, criminal impersonation and aggravated harassment, for trying to defend his scholar-father's stance on who wrote the Dead Sea Scrolls. Raphael Haim Golb was reortedly in "shock" over the verdict and his lawyer Ron Kuby criticized the jury's decision, "Today what happened was the district attorney of New York County and the trial court made hurting somebody's feelings a criminal act. In New York, hurting people's feelings or being annoying is not a crime. We call that Monday." more ›

If your dad is a Dead Sea Scrolls scholar and someone disputes his theory of the scrolls' origins, the logical thing to do is to impersonate one of his leading critics (and submit a confession of plagiarism under his name) and create dozens of fake email accounts to attack the other critics, right? Raphael Haim Golb, 50, on trial for identity theft, criminal impersonation and aggravated harassment, claims his actions were just what Voltaire would have done, "I used the methods of satire, irony, parody and any other form of verbal rhetoric that became the type of language used by philosophers during the Enlightenment to expose the irrational arguments of their opponents." more ›

In what is probably the last thing you'd want to be thinking of if you're in the hospital, New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center confirmed yesterday that personal information of 6,800 patients was "inadvertently" posted on the internet. The information on the hospital's website included names, ages, heart rates and 10 Social Security numbers, but the hospital says it's all been taken down. They said in a statement, "We deeply regret that any patient's information may have been exposed. We have notified all patients affected by this exposure. We do not have any evidence that this information has been misused." more ›

It seems nothing, not even a Great Dane, is sacred compared to the value of New York real estate. Architect Barbara McGill is suing Douglas Elliman brokers Stefani Pace and Avraham Lasri, claiming they stole her belongings and her beloved Great Dane, Willow, when identity theft kept her from paying her rent on time. McGill told the Post, "I am far from perfect, but you know what? I have never, ever, done something this bad to anybody...They terrorized me." more ›

Identity theft is a serious on-going problem for a city that generally doesn't fall for scams easily. So it's reassuring to see that police have caught Iguosade Osahon, 28, of Brooklyn, who is accused of stealing 750 identities and more than $500,000 from victim accounts. He pleaded not guilty today to 147 counts of of identity theft, grand larceny, and other charges, and is being held in lieu of $150,000 bail. Osahon allegedly stole victims' personal data via illegal online data traffickers; Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance said Osahon subsequently blew through the cash by buying Tiffany jewelry, Rolex watches, and luxury goods from Louis Vuitton and Bloomingdale's. But at least he's keeping his humor about him: As cops were arresting him, he leveled with them, "What can I say? You've got me by the balls." more ›

Four former employees of Parking and Security Services Inc. were hit with 23 counts of grand larceny and identity theft after being caught falsely collecting over $95,000 in unemployment benefits. The company, which handled parking for movie shoots like Rent and The Taking of Pelham 123, used the cash to undercut competitors. However, they were discovered when those whose identities were stolen attempted to claim unemployment, and were told the money had already been collected. more ›

Department of Education officials are blaming the assistant principal at Brooklyn Tech High School for lax security that resulted in students' names, addresses and social security numbers being posted on the school's website. This has been the third hack of the school's website this year—the first posted a fake letter saying school was canceled, the second put Lil' Wayne lyrics on the site—but this is the first one that could cause students harm. Junior Jessica Tan told the Post, "It's more serious because it has to do with our Social Security numbers and identity theft...Students are more creeped out than think it's funny." more ›

This is why you should NEVER file taxes—and if you do, you'd better hope your accountant isn't going to rip you off: At least twenty customers at an H&R Block in the Bronx were victims of identity theft, according to a class action lawsuit filed on behalf of the customers. Kevin Johns, a construction worker, has been filing his taxes though the Kingsbridge H&R Block location for at least 20 years, but this year he got a call from his tax preparer saying that his return was rejected because he had already filed. And City Room reports that whoever did it collected a sweet $8,499 refund! more ›

The alleged thief who impersonated another man at his arraignment, then walked out of the courtroom a free man, was found last night in midtown Manhattan. What’s more, officials say 35-year-old Freddie Thomson—who should have faced charges for armed robbery, but instead pleaded guilty to marijuana possession—was not solely at fault. According to Police Commissioner Ray Kelly an officer failed to "adequately check the identification of the prisoner." He added that "There was a mistake made here. There's no question about it." more ›

Bronx natives Jasper "Lyte" Grayson and James "Sal" Malloy were sentenced in Manhattan Supreme Court today for at least five years and possibly up to a decade in prison for organizing a giant check fraud scheme which netted a minimum of $2 million. With almost a thousand henchmen under their employ, the identity thieves were apprehended last year outside a Bronx bank printing bogus checks with equipment plugged into a cigarette lighter, the Post reports. more ›

A Brooklyn man has been charged with murdering a Russian court translator and a jewelry importer and stealing their identities. Investigators told the Daily News that Dmitry Yakovlev also took the identity of a former NYPD mechanic who has been missing since 2003, and they "believe there are even more victims whose body parts have been strewn across New Jersey over the past decade." A source told the tabloid: "He's got a lot of bodies on him ... The guy is a like a serial killer." more ›

The 54-year-old crash victim died a week later, never having had the opportunity to discover his cards were missing. Later, reports the AP, Vassell and his girlfriend Lisa Dacosta racked up a $2,000 bill at Armani Exchange, Best Buy, gas stations and other stores. Police tracked them down yesterday and charged them with grand larceny and identity theft. But Longworth and county police agree that this wasn't an isolated incident. According to the Mid Hudson News, investigators have tied Vassell's name to an October of 2009 credit card theft from a patient in the ER. more ›

When model and "wannabe-socialite" Kashmir Snowdon-Jones committed thousands of dollars worth of credit card fraud "to get back at" a friend her peers predicted she'd get out of charges using her feminine wiles and upper Manhattan fortunes. But now, charged with grand larceny and identity theft, it seems unlikely she'll be able to completely evade the consequences of her unauthorized purchases. According to the victim Jennifer Hirsch, "I told my parents that it wasn't going to end. She is going to get away with it like she always does with everyone else's money. I didn't want her to hurt anyone else as she had done to me. So that's when l said, let's go to NYPD." more ›

A Manhattan woman still dealing with the repercussions of an identity theft that began in 1992 is furious that the con artist who victimized her is getting off with just 60 days in prison. Sara Benitez, 44, became aware of the extent of the damage caused by Araceilis Cherico, 46, when she tried to get married at City Hall in 2004. At the registrar's office, the clerk told Benitez she was already married to someone else. She still hasn't been able to tie the knot, and couldn't even get a passport because Cherico got one using her name. more ›

The Manhattan District Attorney's office announced yesterday that 15 people were arrested on charges including grand larceny in connection with an identity-theft ring. Prosecutors say that the crime ring stole more than $700,000 in an overly elaborate and complicated scheme, involving (but not limited to): An old-timey band of pick-pockets, futuristic identity theft, and of course, costumes. more ›

A couple more details and one sexy photo have emerged regarding the 25-year-old former Chase Bank financial adviser accused of siphoning over $100K from a millionaire's private account. While Robin Katz sits in Rikers Island on $50,000 bail, the Post is drawing from a bountiful stash of photos yanked from Katz's MySpace page. (It's unclear whether the Post grabbed the snapshots before Katz pulled her profile or if the tabloid's shared membership in the Murdoch family of companies yielded extra access.) A police source says that after arresting Katz, investigators found an ATM card and four withdrawal receipts connected to the account of Wall Street broker Dorone Ilan Farber. Auditors say Katz created the extra ATM card in Farber's name, making dozens of withdrawals from his account. Police think she used the money for shopping and partying, but a tipster claiming to be a friend of Katz's since 2005 tells us she saved up enough to put a down payment on a house! more ›

A Brooklyn resident walking his dogs on Atlantic Avenue in Boerum Hill found files containing the personal information—including Social Security numbers and other confidential information—of hundreds of people. Luckily, he called WABC 7 Eyewitness News; Nat Hendricks explained, "The first one, I saw a person's name and address and date of birth, social security number and I closed the file." Eyewitness News found out the files were from a lawyer who had moved out of his office; the lawyer left the files, so his landlord just dumped them on the street! The common thread found was the name of the lawyer, Neda Imasuen, whose registration status is delinquent; Imasuen's landlord admitted he put the boxes on the street on Saturday and claims he scheduled them to be picked up on Sunday. Lawyers are supposed to be responsible for properly getting rid of files; identity theft experts suggest that clients ask their lawyers how their files are destroyed—or to request them back. And now the Attorney General's office is investigating, too. more ›