A man in Newcastle in the UK has been jailed for 15 months for a “sophisticated” fraud spree after harvesting data from Facebook and other social networks.
Security officials have long cautioned that posting too much personal information online could pose a risk of identity theft, and Iain Wood gave the warnings credibility after the 33 year old racked up £35,000 (approximately AU$54,650) worth of fraud.
In a two-year identity-theft spree, the fraudster had spent 18 hours a day sifting the web for personal details of other residents of his block of flats, as well as friends, and using the information gained to guess pin numbers or answers to security questions, Newcastle Crown Court has heard.
"He said he had figured out how to access online bank accounts,” said prosecuting lawyer Neil Pallister, according to a report in The Telegraph.
"He would say he couldn't remember the password and would be asked security questions about date of births and mother's maiden names and he was able to give correct details in some cases.
The court heard Wood would also enter information, names and dates garnered from the web to try to access bank accounts directly if victims had used a guessable password.
According to the prosecution, Wood only got caught when he changed his modus operandi and transferred £1,500 (approximately AU$2,340) from one victim's account directly into his own, sparking the police investigation.
Police originally thought the crime was a one-off, only for Wood to blurt out "Have you been on to me for a while?". That prompted the wider search and an investigation that revealed false passports, pin numbers and bills and bank papers taken from other residents' postboxes.
Once he had gained access to bank accounts, the prosecution said Wood changed the address details and intercepted new cards when they were sent out before withdrawing cash.
