Id Theft Story: Identity Theft Stories Involving The Rich And Famous

Identity Theft Stories Involving The Rich And Famous - The Abraham Abdallah Story

By Security Editor

In March 2001, New York police caught Abraham Abdallah. At the time, Abdallah was 32 years old, a busboy, a high school dropout, and a large-scale identity thief ...

An identity theft story can involve ANYONE. If you think that only unsuspecting housewives, too harassed by the many chores they have to get done with children in tow, would fall prey to identity thieves (i.e., getting their credit cards, checks, personal info stolen), think again. Even a celebrity can figure in an identity theft story.

In fact, a famous identity theft story (famous because of its victims) took place a few years back. In March 2001, New York police caught Abraham Abdallah. At the time, Abdallah was 32 years old, a busboy, a high school dropout, and a large-scale identity thief!

Identity Theft Stories Involving America's Richest

Police said he stole the identities of Oprah Winfrey and Steven Spielberg, and lots of other famous, rich Americans. He got a Forbes 400 listing of the richest people in America, and simply went down the line!

He got caught while stealing $22 million. How did he do it? The Internet, of course! He surfed the Web to gather background data on a victim and one of his tactics was to open a mailbox under his victim's name.

An amusing twist to this identity theft story would probably make you shake your head. Police discovered that Abdallah once participated in - get this - an antifraud informational video used by the government in New York!

That was back in 1986 when Abdallah was still a teenager. In the video, Abdallah spoke on how easy it would be to commit fraud. Abdallah was the star of his own straight-to-video, identity theft story!

But police files show that Abdallah continued starring in his own real life, identity theft story as he was apprehended 16 additional times, at least!

Experts say that starring in an identity theft story as the perpetrator of the crime can become addictive. Why? Because:

It is nonviolent.
It involves huge profits.
It can be done anonymously.
All that is needed is Internet access.

A month before the Abdallah case, the man who figured in the Tiger Woods identity theft story was convicted. Anthony Lemar Taylor, age 30, was sentenced to a whopping 200 years in prison.

To avoid starring in your own identity theft story as a victim, you can visit your state police website or, better yet, visit the FTC website.

The Trade Commission is involved in tracking every identity theft story that involves consumer fraud. But it has put helpful tips on their website to prevent all sorts of identity theft and the steps to take if you think you have been victimized.

Next article: Internet Identity Theft - A Catch 22 Situation

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