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Former ID Thief Offers Advice To Consumers
Former ID thief offers advice to consumers
Want to know how to be a better credit card thief? Just ask anyone who’s been there.
Dan DeFelippi, 29, was convicted of credit card fraud and identity theft in 2004, and he warns consumers that when it comes to preventing this type of theft, you can’t be too careful.
DeFelippi mostly made fake credit cards with real credit card information, which he bought online. He created fake IDs to accompany the credit cards, and then purchased expensive items like laptops, which he sold on eBay. Although he was caught and convicted, he still says credit card fraud is “ridiculously easy to do.”
DeFelippi was facing eight years in prison, but made a plea bargain in which he agreed to community service and $200,000 in restitution. He also was employed for the U.S. Secret Service, helping them infiltrate the online underground and training agents in the latest fraud techniques.
His help has led to the arrest of nearly 15 people. He’s now working as a Web developer at a graphic design company in Rochester, N.Y.
DeFelippi says he got his start in junior high, doing “innocent hacking.” He wasn’t trying to make money; he just wanted to see what he could get away with. In college, to make extra money, be began making fake IDs. He also participated in online chat rooms where people talked about identity theft, and that’s where he found he could make money with little effort.
The former thief says he bought credit card data online. The magnetic stripe found on the back of every card, contains account data. DeFelippi said there are people who work at nothing but hacking into the computers where this data is stored. He also says that there are servers in restaurants who also skim the data and sell it online. He had paid $10 to $50 for information from one card. Then he used an encoder to put the data on a fake card, which he used to make purchases.
DeFelippi recommends that people don’t use their debit cards, since they’re tied to your bank account.
He warns consumers to be careful when shopping online, saying that it’s easy for criminals to create a fake online store, and they do so to collect credit card information. He advises consumers to stick to reputable sites and those that have reviews.
If a company is sending you an ad through e-mail and you’ve never heard of the company, don’t buy anything from them, he warns.
With LifeLock, if you ever do fall victim to identity theft while on LifeLock’s watch, you won’t have to go it alone. LifeLock offers a $1 Million Total Service Guarantee, which means that LifeLock will spend up to $1 million to correct things.
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