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Government-Aided Phishing
Anonymous writes "A Florida county is posting the Social Security numbers, bank account info and other sensitive data of hundreds of thousands of current and former residents on its public Web site, Computerworld is reporting. A county official says there's no problem, since the postings are in compliance with state law requiring public availability of records." From the article: "The breach stems from the county's failure to redact or remove sensitive data from images of public documents such as property records and family court documents, Hogman said. Included in the documents that are publicly available are dates of birth and Social Security numbers of minors, images of signatures. passport numbers, green card details and bank account information."
I remember that this became an issue when someone got credit cards issued in Bill Gates's name. His SSN was listed on SEC filings because he was a majority holder of Microsoft stock. They have since changed the listing requirement with the SEC.
Come play Heroes of Might and Magic Mini online.
http://www.broward.org/records/ great starting point
Defending Yourself Against Identity Theft
...
According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal information such as your name, Social Security number, credit card number or other identifying information, without your permission to commit fraud or other crimes. The FTC reports that there were 161,819 victims of identity theft in calendar year 2002. Florida has one of the highest
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Tips to Avoid Identity Theft
-Do not respond to phone calls or emails from unknown solicitors seeking personal information.
-Do not leave documents containing identifying information lying around your house or workplace. Keep them in a secure location.
-When discarding documents containing your social security number, credit or debit card information, or utility and phone bills, shred or destroy them. Don't just throw them away.
-Limit the contents of your wallet. Do not carry extra credit cards or important identity documents (social security card, passport, etc.) except when needed. Never carry passwords or PIN numbers in your wallet. -Photocopy, scan, or make a list of the contents of your wallet and keep it in a safe place. Copies or scans should include both sides of each item. A list should include account numbers, expiration dates, and customer service phone numbers for each item.
Maybe someone could point them to their own site? And why make copies if you can download for free???
Its not that it was ever private.
Its that the criminals have found a use for the information.
liqbase
Virginia has your SSN and a lot of information up too, in the virginia courts database that has everyone's criminal record, including traffic.
Most states have this.
Don't attack the wrong people, the blame lies squarely with the credit card companies for using your SSN as identification and trusted authentication.
These are all public records and always were public records. It just saves you a drive to the court house of the respective county (or paying a PI network to do same) to have them online.
Yeah, I admit Florida is one fucked up state in so many ways, but don't blow this out of proportion.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
They are not. Was able to look up records of at least one elected official.
Make checks payable to... well you can look up that info yourself!
Try reading it again. It doesn't apply to the states.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
I need to get out more, that was the funniest thing I've read in a week.
-:sigma.SB
WARN
THERE IS ANOTHER SYSTEM
I just randomly picked a last name, and a couple of clicks later I know that (I've removed the names) L.A.P and A.J.P got a mortgage for 141,999.00 on 5/14/2004 from the CITY FEDERAL SAVINGS BANK.
So, if I were a phisher, I now have two names, and a dollar amount. I already know approximately where, and by clicking on the other records I know that they've been there for about 20 years, and that they also had some legal problems back in 1991, again, I'm leaving out the details.
W.T.F ?!?!?!?!
I would be humongously upset that this sort of stuff is available just by clicking.
Worse, by searching on the same two names + broward county plus a good guess as to another term, I found a link to a dump of 756k from google's cache. http://www.google.com/search?num=20&hl=en&lr=&safe =off&q=www.co.broward.fl.us%2Fdatabase%2Frecords%2 F03-24nme.txt&btnG=Search
If I were a phisher, a few minutes with perl would give me a decent dictionary with which to start ...
Funny thing, they are public docments. Altering then to hide the information is illegal.
Funny thing is, you are wrong. The Privacy Act of 1974 covers what to do with private data in government records at the federal level, and many states have similar provisions. Essentially the documents are public property, but specific personal details are not. For example, citing a court case, evidence, its outcome, etc. is public record. Giving the SSN of the person found guilty and the bank account number used to pay the fine is NOT public record.
Another example is declassified documents. Yes, they are public, but usually redacted. For example, giving information on an old military operation while redacting information that identifies the specific people involved. People that may very well still be in the military performing similar operations.
Altering public documents to the extent of redacting personal information, which is what this article is about, most certainly is legal and often required. However, you are an anonymous coward -- obviously someone redacted your user account so I don't know who you are.
24 beers in a case, 24 hours in a day. Coincidence? I think not!
Just because they put a disclaimer on it doesn't mean they're not responsible. Back in the '50s, you started to see those "not responsible" signs in parking lots because the owners were tired of paying damages when people's cars were hit. The law hadn't changed, they were (I don't know if they still are) legally liable, but people believd the signs and stopped making claims. Same thing here. If they say they won't accept liability, most people won't try for compensation, even if they're eligable.
Good, inexpensive web hosting
This is not Phishing.
Phishing is the attempt to get someone to submit information to you by pretending to be someone else.
What the government is doing is publicizing information.
These two activities have almost nothing in common.
Hopefully I didn't put any [] around my words.
Links to Broward County's database lead directly to tiff images. To get the full records, copy the bracketed instrument number and search by instrument.
Broward County Bar Association:
Verna Sue Baldwin
Broward County Records Division
115 South Andrews Avenue
Suite 120
Fort Lauderdale, Fl 33301
954-357-7271 Voice
954-357-5573 Fax
sbaldwin@broward.org
www.broward.org/records
According to the Broward County Phone Directory, the above phone number is the director's number, not the general dept. number. This is further evidence that Verna is Sue.
Here is Verna Sue Baldwin's Notary Certificate, notary ID 620591 [92386313].
In November 1994, Verna Sue Baldwin and David D. McLauchlin (her husband) sold their condo to [name withheld]. Warranty deed [94569014].
Verna Sue Baldwin then purchased a home:
4011 Thomas Street
Hollywood, FL 33021-3540
Parcel number 11208-11-03500
Folio number 514208110350
Warranty Deed for 4011 Thomas Street [94565427].
According to that warranty deed, Verna Sue Baldwin's Social Security Number is 234-74-8234 [94565427].
In May 2000, she added a 14x28 swimming pool [100293267].
In July 2004, Verna Sue Baldwin and David D. McLauchlin paid off their mortgage [104151876].
Note: I didn't list all of Sue Baldwin's loans. Be sure to do that before ordering her credit report. Equifax uses that information for "security".
It looks like Verna Sue Baldwin still lives at 4011 Thomas Street. Parcel sales history. 2005 property taxes. Map.
Verna Sue Baldwin's mother is Dora B. Baldwin, as stated in her Durable Family Power of Attorney document [101676908]. Dora isn't currently married, so Baldwin might be her maiden name. Perhaps try searching West Virginia's public records.