Identity and Cyber: Two Serious Types of Thefts
Everyone knows that it can be dangerous entering personal information over the internet. Theft is a serious and non-tolerated crime in the United States, and because of the internet, there is such a theft as cyber theft. Cyber theft is commonly known as an identity fraud or financial loss that can happen from directly entering personal information for any purpose such as banking or shopping. There are computer savvy people out there that can hack into the system and retrieve your information.
Cyber Theft Crimes
Albert Gonzalez, a Miami resident, has pled guilty to the largest identity theft in the nation. The theft involved over 130,000 accounts that appear to be corporate companies. Now twenty-eight, Gonzalez is confessing to his second case of computer hacking this year.
A plea agreement has Gonzalez receiving at least a seventeen-year sentence, but not more than twenty-five. He was previously a Secret Service informant and assisted the government, in 2003, with a cyber theft case. Gonzalez clearly had the skills to pull off a cyber theft crime. Now, he wants finality and expects to pay the consequences.
Gonzalez’s previous charge was also cyber theft on huge corporate companies such as Wholesale Club and OfficeMax, etc. He was offered a plea agreement of fifteen to twenty-five years in prison for the first offense. Both cases for Gonzalez will be settled sometime in March 2010. Investigators uncovered over one million dollars in cash, wrapped in plastic bags and buried in his parent's backyard in Miami-Dade County.
It appears that Gonzalez committed his first cyber theft crime prior to being a part of the Secret Service, and then following his departure the second crime was committed. There were ten other men involved in this second crime, only two of which are from the United States. The tenth man is still at large.
The Law and Prevention
A law was signed, in 2004, by President Bush known as the “Identity Theft Penalty Enhancement Act.” This law constitutes the fact that any person involved with identity or cyber theft will be criminally charged. It can be very difficult for someone to maintain good credit if their cards or information have been stolen. The identity thief can easily run up a large balance and debt on the victim’s account.
Anyone’s identity can be stolen from his or her mail, computer and the trash. Miami criminal lawyers are effective in many theft cases. One of the easiest ways to prevent personal information from being available in the trashcan is to shred every inch of mail that is personal. Bank statements, tax forms, ATM receipts and paystubs, etc. are several types of information that should not be put in a trashcan until it is destroyed and unidentifiable.
If the computer is the most convenient way for someone to pay bills and shop, then it is extremely important to choose strong passwords that nobody can figure out. In any case, if you or someone you know have been a victim of identity or cyber theft then locate your nearest Miami criminal attorney to help during the struggle.
