Originally published January 24 2005
Corporations are working together to stop identity theft
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
One of the most popular techniques people use to steal peoples' identity is phishing: sending out mass emails that look like they came from a large corporations, but are actually scams in which phishers can steal personal and financial information. Most corporations were working independently to solve the problem, but recently the corporations and the federal government have been working together to find the people responsible and shut them down.
In late November, the executive assistant for an Alexandria (Va.) nonprofit tried to use a bank ATM, but her card was declined.
Hours later, the manager at her bank told her it looked like she was a victim of identity theft.
Over the last year, an estimated 1.8 million people have been victims of so-called phishing scams, according to the Federal Trade Commission in November.
Security software maker Symantec (SYMC) estimates that phishing-related e-mails have doubled in the last few months to about half a percentage point of all e-mail traffic on the Net.
Eighteen big-name Internet service providers, banks, e-commerce outfits, and tech security providers announced on Dec. 8 an alliance called Digital PhishNet.
The companies, ranging from Microsoft (MSFT) to Citibank, part of Citigroup (C), promise to share information about phishers and put a net around them before they move on to the next con.
His idea is simple: Share information about phishers among legitimate e-commerce businesses so they can collectively shut down a fraud site as fast as possible, collect information about who's running it, and send the info on to authorities.
Sounds simple, but it's a big change from what the industry has been doing.
He started working with investigators at Time Warner's (TWX) America Online, Digital River (DRIV), EarthLink, Lycos, and VeriSign.
And it will help the FBI compile more comprehensive files for prosecutors when they catch someone and bring them to trial.
Ultimately, that could lead to more convictions -- the only true deterrent for criminals, says Daniel Larkin, unit chief of the 60-person Internet Crime Complaint Center.
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