Biggest Identity Thief Ever Gets Put Away

Anonymous Brave Guy writes "Apparently computer helpdesk employee Philip Cummings had more than just a day job: he's just gone down for 14 years in the biggest identity theft case ever. Lots of fascinating nuggets of information in that story: apparently fake ID goes for as little as $60, and the total stolen over just a couple of years was somewhere in the $50m-100m range."

Comments

Just write it off I guess

[Lindsay Lohan]

Philip Cummings, 35... a computer helpdesk employee...
Losses have been estimated to be between $50m (£38m) and $100m (£76m).
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.

Something tells me the 30,000 people he scammed aren't going to see a dime. Since Phil is not allowed to compensate with stolen funds, and he is unlikely to be returning to his lucrative helpdesk job anytime soon, I doubt he'll be able to fork over even $1 per victim.

Re:Just write it off I guess

[m3j00]

Something tells me the 30,000 people he scammed aren't going to see a dime. Since Phil is not allowed to compensate with stolen funds, and he is unlikely to be returning to his lucrative helpdesk job anytime soon, I doubt he'll be able to fork over even $1 per victim.

The actual "victim" in these cases is almost always the creditor, not the person whose identity was stolen. It costs the person a bunch of time and energy to correct the problems, but the stolen money comes from the creditors, and they have a budget for fraud.

Re:Just write it off I guess

[nizo]

But how much are all of his body parts worth at auction? Kidneys, corneas, heart, etc. Seems fair to me. Sadly still not enough I am sure.

Re:Just write it off I guess

[mindstrm]

Yup, and that's how it is supposed to work. The onus is on the merchant to ensure that the person using the credit card is, in fat, authorized to use it.

The credit card is a token, a symbol to show that a given issuer is extending you credit, and will pay the merchant on demand. It is not the credit itself.

Far too many merchants do not check signatures and/or ask for identification.. and that's fine, because it's their gamble, not mine.

You can generally contest any payment made on your credit card, and the merchant will have to demonstrate that you authorized the transaction, or he's out of luck. Barring a signature, or stuff shipped to your address, or perhaps video evidence, there isn't much they can do.

That should be good

[albn]

People like this should be put away for a long time for ruining one's credit rating and making their lives a living hell. Restitution will be good too, but how much can you make in the can? not much.

Good riddance.

Curious...

[MarkRose]

What I want to know is, when they caught the guy, did they have a positive ID?

Why?

[grahamsz]

Why does a help desk operator have access to my credit report?

Surely you can design a system where very few humans ever have contact with all of a persons information.

I've dealt with on UK bank where when you wanted to perform certain transactions using telephone banking you were passed to a second tier operator and instructed not to give them your name.

Presumably the system was set up such that no one person had enough confidential information on a single customer.

The US really needs far stricter controls on SSNs - it's insane how often i need my ssn for day to day transactions.

Oh good call, your Honor.

[mikeophile]

Cummings, who is still free on bail, must report to prison on 9 March.

It's not like the guy could change his identity or anything.

It would be better for consumers if

[museumpeace]

this s**tbag's employer, Teledata Communications, was heavily fined...they must have had hundreds of complaints over the course of the thievery and never turned enough scrutiny on their own orgnaization to see the problem until way too late. I will be looking at which credit card issuers, banks, etc use Teledata Communications services and seeing if I can avoid doing business there.

but who says their competition is any safer?

It never ceases to amaze me...

[bennomatic]

...that these folks just don't learn. People who do this get caught because they keep going and going and going. Once you have a few million, you don't need to scam anyone any more! Just invest and retire! You will eventually mess up, and you WILL get caught!!

Of course, this sort of idiotic greed is what got them to start doing these bad things in the first place. I can't imagine trying to steal identities no matter how much the profit, myself.

What!?!?!?

[mr_resident]

HE's not Philip Cummings!

I AM!!!

Re:No way

[lubricated]

> I live in Dickinson, North Dakota.

population 16,000 in the middle of a state that's in the middle of nowhere.

And thus you know everything there is to know about meeting people in New York City.

Re:No way

[dirkdidit]

the middle of a state that's in the middle of nowhere

Not to nitpick or anything, but Dickinson is slightly west and south of the middle of nowhere. The middle of nowhere is actually in Rugby, ND, which is the geographic center of North America.

Re:Cummings, who is still free on bail, must repor

[Hatta]

And how would you get there? Hidden in the back of a car or in someone's luggage? You won't get through customs. Your passport is definitely revoked in such case.

Yeah, if only he had some way of getting a new identity.