Federal Grand Jury Indicts Man for Allegedly Using Consumer Information from P2P File Sharing Networks to Commit ID Theft and Fraud

Federal Grand Jury Indicts Man for Allegedly Using Consumer Information from P2P File Sharing Networks to Commit ID Theft and Fraud

Man Allegedly Used Tax Returns, Bank Statements, and Credit Reports to Establish Identities to Defraud Consumers, Banks, and Retailers -- Thousands of Potential Criminals a Day Use P2P to Mine Consumer Information Needed to Commit ID Theft and Fraud

SEATTLE, Sept. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- At a press conference today, the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Washington State and P2P monitoring company Tiversa, Inc. announced the arrest of an individual allegedly responsible for stealing dozens of consumer identities then using these identities to purchase goods for resale, counterfeit checks, and set-up fraudulent online bank accounts. Unlike previous ID and fraud cases, the man arrested allegedly used peer-to-peer or P2P file sharing networks to find his victim's tax returns, credit reports, and bank statements by searches made through P2P File Sharing Networks. He then used the victims' identities and bank records to purchase goods online, counterfeit checks, and to even file for a victim's 2007 tax refund which he used to fund online credit accounts. The leading agencies in the investigation were the U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Seattle Police Department.

"The US Attorney General for the Western District of Washington asked Tiversa to highlight at today's press conference how millions of consumers expose their sensitive information when they use P2P file sharing networks and how thousands of potential criminals a day search and find this information to commit ID theft and fraud. This arrest is just the tip of the iceberg," said Robert Boback, CEO Tiversa.

Tiversa monitors global file sharing networks on behalf of the world's largest financial institutions, government agencies and individual consumers to guard against the disclosure and sharing of sensitive, confidential, and classified information.

Peer-to-peer file sharing networks started in 1999 with the advent of Napster and are used to share music and movies. By loading P2P software, such as Limewire, on a home or work computer, private individuals can access the computers of other individuals who have also installed a peer-to-peer program on their computer. Unfortunately, if not set-up properly or if an individual is exposed to certain viruses, a P2P user's entire hard drive can be exposed for all those on peer-to-peer file sharing networks to see and to upload.

"Most individual consumers don't even know that they have exposed their sensitive personal, financial, and health information -- just think about all that you store on your home or your work computer. This arrest today demonstrates what a ring of focused ID thieves could do if they obtain your information," said Boback.

To illustrate the magnitude of the problem, Tiversa performed a live demonstration of how easy it was to obtain thousands of tax returns, credit card numbers, bank statements, and student loan information and passports available on peer-to-peer file sharing networks.

"We know that the bad guys actively seek sensitive consumer information because we can see them requesting this information on P2P File Sharing Networks that are normally used to share music and movies. When we see someone requesting a file by requesting May Credit Card Statement, you know they are looking to exploit this information," said Boback.

Tiversa showed that during a two week period prior to the press conference, almost 56,000 requests for files involving "credit card" were issued on peer-to-peer file sharing networks monitored by Tiversa; over 75,000 requests for specific credit card statements by brand; 50,000 requests for "tax returns"; and over 317,000 requests for files involving "pin" and "user id".

Tiversa also showed during the press conference that certain individuals called "Information Concentrators" specialize in collecting information on peer-to-peer file sharing networks with malicious intent. "Information Concentrators demonstrate that there is an active underground market for information obtained via peer-to-peer file sharing networks. These individuals collect only credit card information, only bank statements, only medical records, or classified government information," added Boback.

About Tiversa: Started in 2003, Tiversa's proprietary systems enable it to monitor P2P file sharing networks on behalf of companies, government agencies, and individuals to protect them from the disclosure and illicit use of sensitive, confidential, and classified information on peer-to-peer file sharing networks. Tiversa's Enterprise P2P file sharing Risk Assessment and Monitoring Services protect corporate and government security, business operations and brands. Tiversa's FileDetector(TM) Monitoring Service protects consumers from fraud and ID theft. For more information, visit www.tiversa.com.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Tiversa

CONTACT: Molly Trunzo of Tiversa, +1-724-940-9030, (cell)
+1-724-991-3376, cgormley@tiversa.com

Web site: http://www.tiversa.com/

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