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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 think it's time for me to head to the local bank.
what's going to convince them that this is a bad idea?
Anyone want to bet information of local politicians have been exempt from this? Hmmm? Anyone?
Life is not for the lazy.
Hmm... posting it on slashdot DEFINATELY won't draw phisher's attention to it...
What the hell made Florida ever think that this was a good idea?
FanFictionRecs.net
I think you answered your own question.
From the same people who brought you Indecision 2000... here comes Identity Theft-O-Rama. 3 days in the future: 10:00 News: "For what seems to be no reason, thousands of individuals in Florida seem to be buying things online in mass. Oddly enough, none of the orders are being delivered to Florida. We'll have a video for you after the break. Over to you, Bob."
Silence is golden... and duct tape is silver.
Have you ever been sued for a bad debt? If so, chances are your signature, along with your application for whatever loan or credit you defaulted on is all public record. That usually contains a whole lot of personal information, not just limited to your SSN.
time is a perception of a being's consciousness
time is your 6th sense, the wierd ones are 7+
When you are the victim of identity theft you know who to sue: Sue Baldwin,
Broward County, and the State of Florida. Two out of three deep-pockets isn't bad.
this is the same county who's police intimidated, threatened, and were just plain jerks to an undercover journalist attempting to find a "police officer complaint form":h tml (watch part 1 and 2, videos on the right)
http://cbs4.com/topstories/local_story_033170755.
and then retaliated against the journalist after the piece aired:
http://cbs4.com/local/local_story_086232143.html
-- lol pwned
...is post a link to the information! How else are we to know if the data is genuine?
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
Yeah, hello, Spain? You can have it back now.
The problem with your idea is that it makes sense.
This info was Public Records since, well, always :-)
Anybody could go to town hall and browse the registry of deeds and other repositories. It just became more convenient to do it, but it was always possible.
In a way, we always relied on "security through obscurity" keeping this information (kinda) private, and are now all upset at the obscurity withering out.
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
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.
<Homer>Florida? But that's America's wang!</Homer>
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
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
Back to top
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???
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.
Look at it this way. SSN's aren't what they were meant to be. They are your "everything" number now. In some respects, is the value of the SSN being diminished because they are so easy to use and get a hold of now? It could possibly be a big plus because now we get into a situation where they just aren't worth using so everyone stops using them for important transactions. Lets hope...
You break it you buy it!
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Something phishy's going on here.
*ducks*
I was looking at wanted posters, and each one had an SS number on it.
Yeah, but were you really tempted to steal the identity of someone the police were looking for?
The federal government needs to do this on a nationwide scale. The SSA should give a deadline, say one year, then publish all SSN data. SSN is not supposed to be used as an identifier, nor as a secret. Doing this will force organizations to change their procedures, thus hampering identity thefts and other security issues that result from treating a public, non-unique identifier as a secret.
"A county official says there's no problem, since the postings are in compliance with state law requiring public availability of records."
If all things in compliance with the law are perfect, then what the hell we need politicians to change/update the laws for? Fire the bastards.
Speaking of attracting undesireables, I appear to have picked up a stalker, nyahahah! Eh any ACs or GuloGulo (959533) that respond to this message, everyone remember the name, this one is truly half baked.
Hah! Stalkers? Gimme a break. Try carrying around my sig and see how many disgusting uncircumcised Europeans or "I was robbed at birth!" wackos hit me up.
I hope they all get phimosis. Savages.
Fire and Meat. Yummy.
I started searching for my friends and family. I found a number of their documents online with just a couple of clicks. Absolutely ridiculous! I called my senator (state and federal) and I urge you to do the same.
Mid-Eastern Pennsylvania Gaming Convention
Try reading it again. It doesn't apply to the states.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
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!
Given the huge amount of poor people with massive debt, sure.
The problem with having bad credit isn't not being able to get credit, it's not being able to get credit at a reasonable interest rate. Identity theives, not planning on paying the bills, don't give a shit about the interest rate.
That's right Broward County, home of all those Republican officials... oh wait, what's that, the county is heavily Democrat without any elected Republican officials, as in all nine of the County Commissioners are Democrats? Well... must be Bush's fault somehow anyway!
/. story says something negative about politician's actions, but doesn't emphasize their party affiliation, there's an extremely high correlation that the politicians in question are Democrats. Hence, you wouldn't even have to RTFA, but just the summary, to figure out that the unnamed County and officials are Democrats.
See, when a
The party of stupid and the party of evil get together and do something both stupid and evil, then call it bipartisan.
Stupidity and corruption transcend petty human notions of party lines.
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.
I agree, this is a good thing. Let the use of SSN collapse as a means of granting information. Trying to hide a small number from birth to death is ridiculous. It's equally aweful that companies can claim that you did something because that number was used for the transaction.
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.
What better identity to commit a crime under could there possibly be?
Is it fascism yet?