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Title: A Ripe Target For Identity Thieves: Prisoners on Death Row
Link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/25/05/14/00124...
Identity thieves have found an insidious target: death row inmates. A
SentiLink report published this week reveals scammers are stealing identities
of Texas prisoners awaiting execution to orchestrate "bust-out" fraud schemes
-- patiently building credit before disappearing with up to $100,000. Nearly
10% of Texas' 172 death row inmates have fallen victim. The operation, active
since March 2023, exploits inmates' isolation from financial communications.
"They wouldn't receive text or email alerts from a financial institution,"
said Robin Maher of the Death Penalty Information Center. Beyond opening
credit accounts, NBC reports, fraudsters have registered fake businesses
using inmates' identities, including a landscaping company created under
Ronald Haskell's name -- a man imprisoned since 2014 for killing six people.
TransUnion estimates bust-out scams now cost banks $1 billion annually.
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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