identity theft

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O'Keefe Charged Over Minnesota Voting Stunt

Prosecutors allege impersonation, identity theft at Minneapolis polling place

(Newser) - James O'Keefe's latest hidden-camera gambit has landed him in court. The conservative activist and fellow content creator Cam Higby have been charged in Minnesota with felony unlawful voting and identity theft over a video stunt at a Minneapolis polling place, where they donned mock Islamic clothing and used...

Things Get Weird With Cop Who Found Dead Man in '22

Fla.'s Brian Sguros is now accused of assuming deceased's identity to steal the man's home

(Newser) - A dead man's house wasn't empty for long, authorities in Florida say. Just weeks after 71-year-old Dennis West was found dead of natural causes during a 2022 welfare check in Lauderhill, one of the responding officers allegedly moved in on the property, and on West's identity, reports...

FBI Delivers Big Hit to North Korean Remote Work Scheme

Officials say North Koreans posed as Americans to secure IT jobs at dozens of US firms

(Newser) - US officials say they've delivered a major hit to one of North Korea's stealthiest moneymakers: remote tech jobs at American companies. Officials say the FBI last month broke up more than 40 " laptop farms " in Texas and seized nearly 200 devices used by North Korean IT...

28-Year-Old Finds Out You Can't Go Back to High School Again

Woman busted at Bronx high school, where she enrolled as a 16-year-old

(Newser) - Parents at a Bronx high school weren't imagining things when they thought a new "teen" looked a bit old for homeroom. Police say 28-year-old Kacy Claassen posed as a 16-year-old and successfully enrolled at Westchester Square Academy on April 13 using the name Shamara Rashad, reports ABC7 . According to a...

Ex-Alabama Star to Plead Guilty in $20M NFL Loan Scam

Prosecutors say ex-Crimson Tide lineman Luther Davis used disguises, fake IDs to obtain loans

(Newser) - A onetime standout on Nick Saban's first title team at Alabama is now poised to admit he ran an elaborate loan scam by allegedly posing as three current NFL players, reports the Guardian . Prosecutors say former defensive lineman Luther Davis and partner CJ Evins lined up at least 13...

Man Allegedly Posed as Porn Star to Scam Athletes

Scheme allegedly involved duping victims into handing over credentials for explicit videos

(Newser) - A Georgia man already convicted of ripping off celebrities through hacked Apple accounts is now accused of running an even darker scheme targeting NFL and NBA players. Federal prosecutors say 34-year-old Kwamaine Jerell Ford of Buford posed online as a well-known female adult film star and duped athletes into handing...

Ghost Students Are Stealing Billions in College Aid

Scammers exploit enrollment to hijack grants and loans using stolen identities

(Newser) - A college scam you've probably never heard of is quietly piling up federal losses and personal headaches, ABC News reports. So-called "ghost students" use stolen or fabricated identities to enroll at community colleges, secure federal grants and loans, then vanish—leaving taxpayers on the hook and victims discovering...

Ex-Clerk's Lawyer: Trump Can Pardon Her State Conviction

Law experts dispute legality of Trump's pardon for Tina Peters

(Newser) - A Colorado election case is turning into a constitutional test after an attorney for former Mesa County clerk Tina Peters claimed President Trump can wipe away her state conviction with a presidential pardon, KJCT 8 reports. Attorney Peter Ticktin argues that Trump's clemency powers are not confined to federal...

FBI: She Stole $30M From Banks, Posing as Heiress

Michigan woman Mary Carole McDonnell is now believed to be in Dubai

(Newser) - The FBI is searching for a 73-year-old Michigan woman accused of stealing nearly $30 million from financial institutions while pretending to be an heiress. Authorities allege that between July 2017 and May 2018, Mary Carole McDonnell defrauded banks in California's Los Angeles and Orange counties, falsely claiming she was...

Twins Busted for Allegedly Hacking Government Databases

Virginia brothers are ex-cons who previously served time for hacking the State Department

(Newser) - Twin brothers from Virginia have been arrested and charged with trying to sabotage US government databases after being fired from a federal contractor job. According to the Justice Department , 34-year-old Muneeb and Sohaib Akhter, who previously served time for hacking the State Department, are accused of deleting and stealing sensitive...

Social Security Whistleblower Goes After DOGE

Agency's chief data officer says private data was left vulnerable to hackers

(Newser) - A whistleblower alleges that DOGE has put critical Social Security data on hundreds of millions of Americans at risk, reports the New York Times . The new complaint says members of the Department of Government Efficiency uploaded the Social Security Administration's database to a risky server, creating "enormous...

Guy With Babe Ruth's Name in Some Identity Fraud Trouble

Tennessee's George Herman Ruth allegedly tried to obtain more than $550K using names of baseball players

(Newser) - A Tennessee man who shares the name of the baseball legend known as Babe Ruth has been charged with stealing the identities of hundreds of former players in a sweeping fraud scheme that could land him decades behind bars. Federal prosecutors allege George Herman Ruth, 69, used the names...

MTG Urges Trump to Commute Santos' Sentence

Ex-congressman is serving 7 years for fraud, identity theft; Trump apparently hasn't ruled out commutation

(Newser) - Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is calling on President Trump to commute the sentence of George Santos, the former New York congressman now serving a seven-year sentence for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. Greene, a vocal Trump ally, posted a letter to the Justice Department on X that argued...

'Hollywood Con Queen' Is Headed to California for Trial

Hargobind Tahilramani, accused in $1M impersonation scam, loses extradition try in UK

(Newser) - An alleged international scam artist known as the " Hollywood Con Queen " has lost a last-ditch attempt to avoid extradition from the UK to the US, setting the stage for a dramatic trial in California. Hargobind Tahilramani, a 45-year-old Indonesian citizen, faces charges related to an alleged seven-year...

George Santos Is Not Going Gently Into the Prison Night

Former congressman begins his 7-year sentence Friday, but not before a lengthy farewell tour

(Newser) - George Santos' career trajectory: from the House of Representatives to the big house. The disgraced ex-GOP lawmaker expelled from Congress in 2023 after being slammed with federal charges, including money laundering, wire fraud, and identity theft, is heading to prison Friday to start his seven-year-plus sentence on those charges, to...

Arizona Woman Hears Fate for Running N. Korean 'Laptop Farm'

Christina Chapman gets 8 years behind bars for operation that funneled millions to North Korea

(Newser) - An Arizona woman has received an eight-year-plus federal prison sentence for her role in a scheme that allowed North Korean operatives to masquerade as remote IT workers for hundreds of American companies, reports Politico . Christina Chapman, who pleaded guilty to wire fraud, identity theft, and money laundering, reportedly ran...

Cops: Woman Has Posed as a Nurse Since COVID

Shannon Nicole Womack, 39, faces 43 counts in Pennsylvania alone

(Newser) - A woman accused of impersonating a nurse across several states faces a litany of charges after Pennsylvania authorities uncovered what they describe as an elaborate, five-year fraud operation that began during the COVID pandemic. Shannon Nicole Womack, 39, allegedly used at least 10 aliases—and possibly as many as...

Disneyland Paris Stops Mock Wedding With 9-Year-Old

Sex offender who allegedly used false identity and hired actors for ceremony is arrested

(Newser) - A British sex offender has been arrested in France after allegedly organizing a mock wedding ceremony with a 9-year-old girl at Disneyland Paris. Authorities say the 39-year-old, identified in media reports as Jacky Jhaj, used a stolen Latvian identity and forged documents to book a private event before the...

Aflac: Hackers May Have Customers' Personal Data

Claim information, health data, and Social Security numbers were exposed, insurer says

(Newser) - Aflac revealed Friday that hackers breached its systems last week, exposing sensitive customer data—including Social Security numbers—during a cyberattack. The insurer, which has millions of customers, described the attackers as a "sophisticated cybercrime group" that used social engineering to tap into its network on June 12,...

How Fake N. Korean Remote Workers Infiltrate Tech Jobs

US facilitators, fake resumes, and AI scams fuel the scheme

(Newser) - A Belgian startup founder's search for a new coder ended up finding him more than an eager employee. Simon Wijckmans, based in London and running the web security company c/side, began spotting candidates with strong resumes but odd signals: suspicious accents, noisy backgrounds, shaky connections, and a preoccupation...

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