Identity theft is a serious and growing problem on the Internet as hackers find new and ingenious ways to steal the personal information of victims. Authorities recently put a notch in the "win" column as they apprehended 28-year-old Iguosade Osahon, of Brooklyn. Osahon is accused of stealing 750 identities and more than $500,000 from victim accounts. He has plead not guilty on all 147 counts of identify theft, grand larceny, and other charges. He faces up to 15 years in jail if convicted.
When caught Osahon casually said, "What can I say? You've got me by the balls."
He allegedly stole victims' personal data via illegal online data traffickers, and used the data to get credit reports and financial inforamtion from the Equifax, Experian and TranszUnion credit reporting bureaus, Vance said.
His scam ran from November 2007 to February 2010 and law enforcement sources said he focused on wealthy zip codes.
Osahon collected 800 of the reports and used them to gain access to bank and credit card accounts of his victims, many of them at Chase Bank, according to court documents.
Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance said Osahon subsequently blew through the cash by buying Tiffany jewelry, Rolex watches, and luxury goods from Louis Vuitton and Bloomingdale's.
Osahon was caught by the cybersleuths of the DA's Cybercrime and Identity Theft Bureau, with help from the New York/New Jersey Electronic Crimes Task Force of the US Secret Service, Vance said.
