New York Paralegal Blog

WASHINGTON – A Hammond, Ind., man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Va., to 14 years in prison for operating an online business that sold counterfeit credit cards encoded with stolen account information, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division and U.S. Attorney Neil H. MacBride for the Eastern District of Virginia.

OnGuardOnline.gov – the federal government’s online security site, managed by the Federal Trade Commission – is offering information to help PlayStation Network and Qriocity users avoid the risk of identity theft following Sony Corporation’s disclosure that those services were hacked and user data may be compromised. It’s not clear at this time what user data was stolen, but the services held user IDs and passwords, e-mail and street addresses, birth dates, credit card numbers and expiration dates, and payment histories. OnGuardOnline.gov advises PlayStation Network and Qriocity users to take these steps to reduce the risk of identity theft: If you used your PlayStation ID or password to log in to other accounts, change them – and, since hackers could have your security questions and answers from Sony, use different questions for other accounts. When you open your e-mail, consider whether any of the messages could be a phishing scam. Having stolen information could mak...

Defendants Each Stole More Than $100,000 from Chase Bank; Impersonated & Stole Personal Information from at least 15 People Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance, Jr., today announced a 106-count indictment against NEFERTITI GARNETT and an 80-count indictment against ZOE WALMSLEY, on charges of Grand Larceny, Identity Theft, Criminal Possession of a Forged Instrument , Scheme to Defraud, and Attempted Grand Larceny.[1] Each defendant is charged with stealing more than $100,000 from Chase Bank by impersonating victims using stolen personal identifying information and bank account numbers at various bank branches in New York State and New Jersey. GARNETT was arraigned on June 25, 2010, and WALMSLEY was arraigned on July 19, 2010. “For more than a year, the defendants brazenly used stolen personal information from unsuspecting victims to steal money from Chase Bank,” said District Attorney Vance. “Fortunately, an astute employee discovered the fraudulent transactions and prom...

Manhattan District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau announced today the indictment, arrest and extradition of VIATCHESLAV VASILYEV and VLADIMIR KRAMARENKO for global trafficking in stolen credit card account numbers, cybercrime, and identity theft. Mr. Morgenthau also announced the unsealing of an indictment as to three additional co-defendants - EGOR SHEVELEV, DZIMITRY BURAK and OLEG KOVELIN. The indictment is the product of a joint investigation by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the Secret Service. The defendants in custody in New York, VASILYEV and KRAMARENKO, were indicted on charges of enterprise corruption, grand larceny, money laundering, criminal possession of stolen property, scheme to defraud, and conspiracy. SHEVELEV, who faces similar charges, is awaiting extradition from Greece. The unapprehended individuals, BURAK and KOVELIN, were also indicted on like charges. The crimes charged in the indictment occurred between November 2001 and August 2007. Today’s ann...