I-Team: Underground Identity Theft
By Aaron Diamant
Identity theft hits the black market. The I-Team has discovered a secret world of stolen social security numbers and credit cards.
We got an expert to help infiltrate the hackers' havens... The black market for stolen identities. A market that nets con artists billions of dollars.
Dan Clements works with Cardcops, an organization that fights identity theft. He took us underground, online. "It's like the den of identity thieves here. The treasure den."
The internet has a dangerous new underworld-- secret chat rooms where users exchange hot commodities. Those commodities include numbers, bank accounts, credit cards, even pin numbers. Clements points out information for sale. "It is up for sale in cyberspace right this very minute."
Computer-savvy identity thieves know just where to go to buy. So does cardcops-- an organization that busts identity thieves. Cardcops took us underground to show us just how big this problem is. "We see 426 hackers are in this room right this very minute."
One guy called "Tiger" sells the "full package." that includes a name, credit card number, birthday, and a pin number.
Identity theft costs victims thousands. But buying stolen info is cheap. A credit card will only cost you two bucks. If it comes with a pin-- the price gets hiked to ten bucks, Clements points out. "If you have access to the online bank account, they will sell it for anywhere from two percent to ten percent of the amount of money that's in your debit account."
We found Scott Holanda's personal information online. Who's Scott? This guy-- a guy we tracked down to warn him. "I was very surprised when I was notified," he told us.
Scott believes the thieves got his information after he answered an email that looked very real but turned out to be a scam. "It indicated that I was being charged for a purchase and if the purchase was not accurate to return the email with my personal information."
That mistake cost Scott big-time. By the time we found him, hackers had already used his credit card. So what did he do? "It was cancelled and a new card and number were issued."
So, how can you keep your identity off the online underground? Never answer an email asking for personal information. Shred all financial paperwork. You can also set up a fraud alert with credit bureaus, which will alert you if anyone tries to open up an account in your name.
A fraud alert typically only lasts three months, so you'll have to be diligent about re-upping. Experts say you should check out your credit report at least once a year too. .
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