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Swedish Security Company Boss Declared 'Bankrupt' After Identity Stolen (bloomberg.com)

Posted by msmash on from the awkward dept.

The man running Sweden's biggest security firm was declared bankrupt this week after his identity was hacked. Though the sub-optimal branding implications were hard to miss, Securitas AB was able to put the whole awkward incident behind it by the end of the day. From a report: Alf Goransson, the company's 59-year-old chief executive officer since 2007, won an appeal of the July 10 bankruptcy decision by the Stockholm District Court, according to a statement late Wednesday. The perpetrator used the CEO's identity to seek a loan of an undisclosed amount, after which a bankruptcy application was filed in his name. The identity theft took place in March. Goransson didn't know he'd been hacked until this week, the company said. The hack attack "has no effect on the company, other than that our CEO has been declared bankrupt," spokeswoman Gisela Lindstrand said. "And that will hopefully only last until later today, depending on how soon they can remove the decision."

41 comments

  1. News for Nerds by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Yesterday's Stuff that Actually No Longer Matters!

    Great job, M'Smash!

  2. It wasn't the Russians by iwaybandit · · Score: 2

    Someone at Milton Security did it!

    1. Re:It wasn't the Russians by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      More likely someone who got screwed over by Securitas in some way, like an invalid, expensive and almost hopeless to appeal parking ticket who's delivering some payback. One of those could actually ruin you if you're already living close to the edge.

  3. Freeze your credit reports.. by bagofbeans · · Score: 1

    Chex Systems, Equifax, Experian, Innovis and TransUnion are the main ones.

  4. "Just one bankruptcy, that's nothing" - Ponzierge by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    If we've learned anything from our brash commander, it's that when you're failing financially you just lean harder on Qatar.

  5. Interesting... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    When I filed for Chapter Seven US bankruptcy in 2011, my attorney wouldn't file the bankruptcy application until I paid the $1,500 fee ($300 went to the court) over a six-month period. Sweden doesn't charge an application fee?

    1. Re:Interesting... by slew · · Score: 2

      According to this article...

      Maria Hellberg, a judge at the court, said that bankruptcy applications can be made by mailing a signed declaration of insolvency. The signature doesn't have to be notarized and there is no fee to file the application.

      I suspect that this will all be changing shortly ;^)

    2. Re:Interesting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Perhaps I'm missing something obvious... If you're **bankrupt**, where do you get $1.5k to file?

    3. Re:Interesting... by dugancent · · Score: 1

      I'm neutral on requiring a fee for filing, but not even requiring a notary on such an important document is asinine.

      --
      SJWs are the new boogeyman. -Me
    4. Re:Interesting... by HornWumpus · · Score: 2

      Not the lawyer's problem, your problem. Surely, you don't expect a lawyer to wipe out his own receivable?

      --
      John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
    5. Re: Interesting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What's worse is they don't even contact you before making the bankruptcy final... The way the CEO found out was when the companies registration office delisted him as CEO (can't run a company when bankrupt).

      So just sending in a letter to the court with a false signature will make your victim bankrupt until appealed. Don't need to appear in person and the whole process takes around a day.

    6. Re:Interesting... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      If you're **bankrupt**, where do you get $1.5k to file?

      Bankrupt doesn't mean you're completely broke. It means that you can't pay what you owe other people. I was out of work but still paying my credit card bills for two years when my unemployment benefits expired after 99 weeks and the weekend job for 20 hours per month wasn't enough to cover the bills. When I saw my attorney, she told me to stop paying my credit cards so I can pay her to file my bankruptcy application. The day after my bankruptcy got finalized, I had $25 in checking and a new full-time job.

    7. Re:Interesting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      But wait, where is your amazon affiliate link for a book on how to file for bankruptcy?

    8. Re: Interesting... by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

      Well it probably haven't been misused like this before. Also notaries are not common in Sweden since we don't use our courts as often as say Americans. I would also guess that the court does not see this as a problem since it can be reversed. That you personally get lots of trouble are not their concern...

    9. Re:Interesting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "...Sweden doesn't charge an application fee? ..."

      There are few, if any, similarities between different countries legal systems. How can you even ask this? Sweden is not part of the 50 states of the Union,

      The guys identity was not "stolen", he still has it. His name and SSN (easily available or guessed, and not really a big secret) was used to file a legal paper without supporting proof of identity, which is truly stupid for a country where a photocopy is not considered "real" until notarized. The embarrassment should be on the courts where it was filed.
      This lapse of security will likely get fixed after this faux pas.

    10. Re:Interesting... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sometimes the system works, sometimes it doesn't.
      There are plenty of stories of how the system can fail both in the US and Sweden.

      I've seen a couple of cases where people in the US have gotten their houses sold without them knowing.
      I heard about a case in Germany where some dudes lied about owning a company and sold it to some larger company.
      By the time the real owners found out the larger company had paperwork that showed that they had bought the company.

      It is always a problem sorting things out when they go wrong and it takes a lot of time and effort.

      The real problem is if you are accidentally declared dead, then things really starts to get messy.
      Dead people don't have many rights and have a real problem contesting wrongdoings in court.

  6. Re:"Just one bankruptcy, that's nothing" - Ponzier by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2

    When I was at the trustee hearing for my bankruptcy, an older gentlemen was on his fifth business bankruptcy in 50 years. The trustee was amazed.

  7. Re:"Just one bankruptcy, that's nothing" - Ponzier by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      an older gentlemen was on his fifth business bankruptcy in 50 years. The trustee was amazed.

    Was his name Donald Trump by any chance?

  8. Securitas is incompetent. by OverlordQ · · Score: 1

    Enough said

    --
    Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
  9. Amazing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Its amazing how many people find employment again just as their unemployment benefits run out.

    1. Re: Amazing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Finalized is a minimum of three months after filing. Realistically it's 4-6 months, depends on the time of the trustee meeting.

    2. Re: Amazing by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's amazing how people work for years and are paying into the unemployment insurance all that time, but only need it right after they lose their job.

    3. Re:Amazing by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Its amazing how many people find employment again just as their unemployment benefits run out.

      I worked 20 hours per month for six months before I got a full-time job. That's underemployment, not employment.

  10. Can someone shed some light? by ScienceofSpock · · Score: 1

    I get that his identity was stolen, and the thief applied for a loan, and then declared bankruptcy in his name. What I don't get is how that led to the court actually declaring him bankrupt. The article doesn't mention details, but I would assume there are still some qualifications to be met before someone is declared bankrupt. Qualifications like actually having no money, and debt collectors knocking down your door.

    Did the court not consult with him to find out what his financial situation was like before just declaring him bankrupt? Do they just accept people's bankruptcy claims at face value without checking?

    Just seems like it was way too easy for this to happen and the process easy to abuse.

    1. Re:Can someone shed some light? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Did the court not consult with him to find out what his financial situation was like before just declaring him bankrupt?

      Nope

      Do they just accept people's bankruptcy claims at face value without checking?

      Yep

      Just seems like it was way too easy for this to happen and the process easy to abuse.

      Damned right. The system is absolutely fucking insane. It's all about having the process go as fast as possible, with no checks at all. Fuck, even if some of the needed documentation is missing the court will add it on it's own, so the process can go through.

    2. Re:Can someone shed some light? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, Swedish courts are gullible and stupid.
      So they simply declare you bankrupt without any checks.

    3. Re:Can someone shed some light? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes and no? It may not be relevant but a coworker was involved in a multi-year lawsuit over some sold property and as it turns out all he had to do was tell the court that hey, this guy declared bankruptcy before selling the property and thus has no case. Nobody checked and it never came up during the normal preceedings

    4. Re: Can someone shed some light? by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

      There are only 3 qualifications: #1 That it is signed. The signature is not validated since the court doesn't have peoples signatures. The signature is so you can contest the application later, which happened here. #2 That the fee is paid. For a personal bancrupcy the fee is zero. #3 That the filing person is under the specific courts jurisdiction. All 3 where qualified. These rules sounds like this have not been misused until today, and they will most likely be changed. This all happens due to our usage of a national id in Sweden that is given to all citizens, which is used almost everywhere, is easily guessed and cannot be changed. It's your birthdate as YYMMDD-ABCD where ABC is your birthplace with an incrementor to support more than one birth per day and place and this number is even for boys and uneven for girls and D is a simple checksum.

    5. Re: Can someone shed some light? by Megol · · Score: 1

      I don't see how the fact that the identity number is easily guessed is relevant. It isn't intended to add any security - just being a convenient identifier.

    6. Re: Can someone shed some light? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not intended that way, but it's frequently treated as some kind of security measure.

      There is no end to the amount of information you can get or the problems you can create for someone, if you have their identity number. All you need is the number and the maliciousness to go through with it.

      It's by today's standards an insane system which is designed for convenience and really isn't designed to be secure at all. I think it's important to remember that it's a system which originally was designed in another time where there was no networked computers and much of the information was stored on paper in archives with limited access anyway, so malicious actors where a much lesser concern. Now it's become a gigantic liability from a security point, but at the same time, it's very convenient for all the powerful actors in the system so the political apathy is just about total. So the ordinary citizen will probably continue to be screwed.

    7. Re: Can someone shed some light? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The birthplace numbers are no longer suggesting birthplace since 1990.

      https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personnummer_i_Sverige

    8. Re: Can someone shed some light? by ScienceofSpock · · Score: 1

      Thanks for explaining that. Sounds like the system needs to be changed for sure. Our social security numbers here in the US are used in a similar manner, as an identifier for the purpose of keeping a credit history, but ours aren't so easy to guess. Part of the number used to be based on geographic region, but I'm not sure that's the case anymore. Also not sure if our bankruptcy filing procedures require any more scrutiny than your do.

    9. Re: Can someone shed some light? by F.Ultra · · Score: 1

      Well if some one steals your identity number you will probably change your position. If I have access to your identity number and have criminal intent then there is no stop to the things that I can do in your name without you ever stopping me. If/when the police catches me you will have a breathing room until I give that identity number to some one else or I get out of jail and start to use it again.

      Everything you do in the Swedish society, either with the government, with banks or with private companies can be done in your name if I have acess to your identity number and since it's used in so many places the number have enter that strange state of being both almost public and private at the same time. That we have not experienced the same amount of identity theft as say the US yet have to do with other factors, not that our system is more secure, on the contrary.

  11. Re:"Just one bankruptcy, that's nothing" - Ponzier by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    Was his name Donald Trump by any chance?

    Oh, no. This was a good hombre who came to the US to build his business.

  12. OH YEAH?!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now how about Aarron Barr from HBGary ? !! Is he bankrupt?

  13. Trading Places by Miamicoastguard · · Score: 0

    Stolen by Eddy Murphy.

  14. Re:"Just one bankruptcy, that's nothing" - Ponzier by tattood · · Score: 1

    Oh, no. This was a good hombre who came to the US to build his business.

    Apparently he didn't build it very well.

    --
    WTB [sig], PST!!!
  15. NOT "Identity Theft" by CanEHdian · · Score: 1

    Identity Theft is something made up by bankers and their ilk. That communicates that the Little Guy is the victim and they are just on the sidelines. It's just fraud as someone uses falsified data to fill out forms, etc. It's up to the them to properly verify that no fraudulent data is used. But if they introduce the concept of "identity theft", they're shifting responsibility away. The "identity" becomes something very simple and abstract, and since it's "stolen" (of course "copied" would be better, what is this Slashdot or the MPAA Fan Forum?) the beef is between the culprit and the legitimate identity owner, not something between the culprit and the financial institution.

    This needs to be changed ASAP. If an accused claims that "they didn't do it", it's up to the financial/other institution to prove that they in fact did, instead of the other way around. So having some random data like name, address, postal code (yes really! you can look it up online but you have to fill that out too), and SIN/SSN will no longer be enough. Once the financial institutions are going to be on the chopping block, proper technology will be available Real Soon Now.

    --
    When the copyright term is "forever minus a day", live every day like it's the last.
  16. Re:"Just one bankruptcy, that's nothing" - Ponzier by Swave+An+deBwoner · · Score: 1

    Another Trump basher! Please!

    Trump is no slacker. Between 1991 and 2009 he filed for bankruptcy six times.
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2016/live-updates/general-election/real-time-fact-checking-and-analysis-of-the-first-presidential-debate/fact-check-has-trump-declared-bankruptcy-four-or-six-times

    How do you come off comparing hime to some poor slob who took 50 years to file only five times.