Caught in the (criminal) act ...

The FBI never "slumbers nor sleeps" - it's their job… >> http://www.team-cymru.org/News/

• http://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/story-index/cyber-crimes
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California man caught with 300,000 identities
- http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=n…&id=8412949
Nov 1, 2011 - "A Southern California man was convicted of identity theft after authorities discovered he had obtained more than 300,000 personal profiles. While not the most authorities have seen, it's a large cache of personal information, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Brown. Robert Delgado Jr., 40, of Monterey Park was sentenced last week to eight years in prison and five years of supervised release for identify theft after authorities found an external hard drive containing individual profiles that included names, addresses, dates of birth and Social Security numbers…."

Orange County Man Found Guilty of Using Credit Cards Stolen from Victims in the Vietnamese Community to Purchase Goods
- http://www.lawfuel.net/releases/orange-cou…ry-goods-30254/
Nov 1, 2011 - "A resident of Costa Mesa has been convicted of identity theft and other federal offenses some of which were committed while he was free on bail in a state case for his role in a credit card fraud scheme that targeted members of the Southlands Vietnamese community. Hung Van Tieu, 62, was found guilty Thursday afternoon of conspiracy, two counts of credit card fraud and aggravated identity theft by a federal jury. As a result of the verdicts, Tieu faces a mandatory minimum sentence of two years and a statutory maximum sentence of 32 years in federal prison…."

Clarksville bank cashier to plead guilty of embezzlement, identity theft
- http://blogs.desmoinesregister.com/dmr/ind…identity-theft/
Nov 1, 2011 - "A former cashier at Iowa State Bank in Clarksville will plead -guilty- Friday to embezzling $6 million over the past two decades, court records show. George T. Powers, 48, has been charged with stealing the money between 1991 and 2010. He is scheduled to be arraigned and plead guilty on Friday in Cedar Rapids…."

Woman faces 30 years, $1M fine in bank fraud case
- http://www.bnd.com/2011/11/02/1925097/woma…bank-fraud.html
Nov. 02, 2011 - "An Alorton woman pleaded guilty to federal charges of bank fraud, aggravated identity theft and misuse of a Social Security number. Roshelia Ann Charles, 36, on Monday pleaded to the charges in the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of Illinois in East St. Louis. Charles admitted using another person's identity to open a bank checking account and withdrawing funds from that account based on the deposit of fraudulent checks, according to Stephen R. Wigginton, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Illinois… Bank fraud carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine. Misuse of a Social Security number carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory two year prison sentence, which must be served after the sentence served for the bank fraud charge. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 30…"

… NEXT ? Step forward. Please…

The Richest 1% Have Captured America's Wealth. 1% of Americans own 70% of all financial assets. So what is the "never slumbering" FBI going to do about those crooks?

And Banks should go back to basics
The debt crisis in Europe is the fault of bankers, yet the people are the ones who pay.

The current mess is simply yet another earth-shaking collision between those who reap the returns from banking (shareholders and management) and those who bear the risks (everyone else).

Greek PM George Papandreou's apparently impulsive decision to put the bailout and austerity plan to a referendum merely highlights that tension between the public and bankers, and brings it to a head.

The bankers, horrified at the thought of facing the wrath of those whom they have plundered, will make sure it never gets to that by exerting the power of financial markets to head it off. And if we have learned one thing over the past three years it is that financial markets are more powerful than governments.

And guess what? Goodbye George Papandreou's because financial markets rule, not Politicians.

The Topic opener has set forth and documented egregious examples of how people exploit people, and particularly how they have perpetrated those exploits via technical methods. Since we are a Computer Tech forum, we try every day to help folks who might otherwise be exploited. We recommend Strong Passwords Updated OS & application software Diligent use of Antivirus and AntiSpyware Avoidance of risky websites and risky online practices We are happy to learn when characters such as the author of ChronoPay, GlavMed and SpamIt, appears to be brought to justice by the Russian government. We abhor the practice of those who create and profit from pirated content, be it media and entertainment, medication, or cracked windows and other software keys. We wish for our authorities and enforcement agencies to diligently pursue and put an end to illegal activities that constantly affect the online safety of us all. And at the same time we wish to preserve our own net-neutrality freedoms, which unfortunately also may allow others to perpetrate their frauds anonymously. __________________ The second responder in this Topic thread, reminds us that we are in a world that abounds with crooks at all levels. He points out that a dominating class has separated itself from the masses and created the rules and methods through which their own exploits can "legitimately" perpetrate exploits in even greater volume. We are happy when the Bernie Madoff's of the world get what's coming to them. We celebrate when cruel dictators are toppled. We wish for our own representative governments to abide by the rules and principles that we hold dear. And at the same time we see the super-successful become celebrities, institutions and icons, all funded by the taxpayer workers. __________________ Are these contributors offering two types of observations that are "off-topic" and in conflict with each other? Probably not. Both types of observations could fill their own topic thread and have a perpetual amount of details and examples. Which is worse? Which is more harmful? Is there such a thing as "less-bad" when an individual exploits one vulnerable fellow human, compared to a class of individuals exploiting many others? __________________ I thank both the previous contributors to this topic and applaud their attention and observations given from different perspectives. It might even be a wonderful thing, that a fine forum such as our own can accommodate such different yet not divergent points of view in the same thread. Hey, isn't that what forums are all about? After all… this sub-forum is "What the Heck?" Best Regards