* subscribe at http://techPolice.com Hacker stole identities of richest Americans By Greg Farrell, USA TODAY NEW YORK — It wasn't a very successful case of identity theft, but it appears to rank among the most audacious. Court papers say that 32-year-old restaurant worker and four-time felon Abraham Abdallah, armed with a copy of Forbes magazine's "400 Richest People in America," meticulously collected the Social Security numbers, bank and brokerage account numbers, credit card numbers and mothers' maiden names of 200 of the USA's wealthiest men and women. On his hit list of intended victims, according to court papers: Steven Spielberg, Warren Buffett, Oprah Winfrey, Martha Stewart, George Lucas, Ross Perot and Michael Eisner. Abdallah's goal, police say, was to con financial services providers into giving him access to his victims' millions. His method, according to prosecutors, included "stealing" their identities, renting boxes in their names at commercial mailbox services and then ordering merchandise charged to their credit cards. By the time he and a suspected accomplice, Michael Pugliese, 47, were arrested on March 7, they had gotten only about $100,000 in goods using identities of some of the intended victims, according to law enforcement sources. But the potential for much greater damage was there, police say: Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs and Bear Stearns were all billed for credit reports they had not requested. That was an indication, according to New York City police, that an identity thief was busy collecting personal information on intended victims. Last December, an e-mail purported to be from Siebel Systems founder Thomas Siebel came to brokerage Merrill Lynch. It asked that $10 million be transferred to an account based offshore. Merrill Lynch contacted Siebel, determined that the request was a hoax and called police. Court papers say Abdallah rented mailboxes at a downtown Manhattan location in the names of Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Bear Stearns CEO James Cayne. They say he then ordered merchandise to be delivered to those boxes. "What this guy was doing was setting up mailboxes all over the place," says Sandi Spector, a U.S. Postal inspector brought in to monitor the mail drops. Throughout January and February, Spector helped the NYPD keep watch on various mailboxes. But, she said, Abdallah, who worked in a Brooklyn restaurant, would not show up to take delivery. A courier or other intermediary would redirect the merchandise. "We were jumping from place to place," Spector recalls. "He was everywhere and he was nowhere. We believe he could track delivery of packages over the Internet." Finally, on March 7, the police intercepted a shipment of $25,000 worth of equipment to manufacture and magnetize credit cards. Then, posing as couriers, they delivered the goods to a drop-off location in Brooklyn, where they say they found Pugliese. Abdallah was arrested when he arrived. The pair is now in custody, awaiting arraignment. Abdallah's arrest is not his first brush with the law. Postal inspectors have arrested him four times since 1986 on charges related to mail fraud, for which he was convicted. ============================================================ GET A NEXTCARD VISA, in 30 seconds! Get rates as low as 2.9% Intro or 9.9% Fixed APR and no hidden fees. Apply NOW! http://click.topica.com/aaabh5b1dhr0b1uN1Ic/NextCard ============================================================ --via http://techPolice.com archive: http://theMezz.com/cybercrime/archive unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] url: http://theMezz.com/alerts ____________________________________________________________ T O P I C A -- Learn More. Surf Less. Newsletters, Tips and Discussions on Topics You Choose. http://www.topica.com/partner/tag01
