True Stories
The true story of Bronislovas Genzelis. Signatory of the Lithuanian Independence Act scammed
One more famous name is in the long list of victims of telephone scammers. It is a signatory of the Lithuanian Independence Act of 11 March. The 80-year-old veteran in politics was lulled when smart scammers mentioned his merits to Lithuania. 8000 litas, the signatory’s annuity of almost two months, was lost by the person after he received a call from scammers on the mobile phone. The caller introduced himself as a police investigator and explained to the signatory that the police was after dangerous criminals and in this way coaxed the e-banking password and identification code from him.
How a Woman from Klaipėda became a Criminal in the U.S.
Once Lina (name changed) from Klaipėda, who worked in the business sector, thought of checking what information about her was available online. The woman was shocked as she was named online as a criminal in the U.S. who had committed 17 robberies in the value of USD 3 mn. The woman from Klaipėda got to know her dark-skinned “look-alike” on the internet. The name, maiden name, birth date of the look-alike were the same, except for the photograph. It was stated that the persons who had committed crimes were detained in March 2013. Lina has worked in the U.S. before, thus, she was sure that her data had been illegally obtained by the fraudster from the data bases of U.S. institutions or even in 2006 because then personal belongings with her ID card were stolen from the woman. The woman understands that this situation can become an obstacle for her to go on holiday with her family to the U.S. or travel elsewhere freely. Lina has contacted the police, however, unsuccessfully.
Stolen Data Used for Insurance of Another Person's Car
A resident of Vilnius, Dalia (name changed), found out in 2012 that her data were used for the insurance of a BMW via UAB Naiva. The BTA insurance contract had her name, surname, personal ID number indicated though the signature was clearly counterfeit. The woman has been using her maiden name for signing and in this case effort was made to reproduce her present surname. Dalia has never had such a car; she has never entered into any insurance contracts with BTA insurance as well. She realised that somebody had stolen her data, which meant that it was likely they would be further used for criminal purposes. Besides, how many insurance contracts could there be made using the data of other persons. However, after two years of the detective story, the woman gave up – she could not prove the fault of UAB Naiva, as an intermediary of BTA insurance.
Heat over Appropriated Facebook Pictures
A swindler from Bulgaria appropriated the pictures in another woman’s Facebook profile and started an affair with the man who trusted in her lie. The swindler appropriated more than hundred pictures of another woman and, without any scruple, uploaded them to the social network as her own. Later the man found the real owner of the pictures in Facebook and warned her about the theft. The victim was shocked. “It was a lesson to me. May be I was naive when I thought that it was not worth limiting access to personal data. My friends who have children make so much information about themselves and their families public – they do not even realise that this is accessible to everybody. In my work, I understand well the importance of data secrecy and customer confidentiality. Unfortunately, in the virtual space we sometimes forget about being cautious,” said the victim later.
Credit in Another's Name
An account was opened and a credit of 38 000 kroons (more than 8 000 litas) at Big Bank was taken using counterfeit documents in the name of the person residing in Saaremaa island (Estonia). It was found out that a driver’s licence was provided in order to take the credit but its reference number did not match the reference number of the genuine driver’s licence. The counterfeit driver’s licence was used three times and different companies. The criminal, first of all, contacted Hansa bank for an excerpt of that person’s bank account in order to get the credit. Then a new bank account was opened using the name of that person at Nordea bank and a credit was taken from Big bank and transferred to the account at Nordea bank. Afterwards, in a couple of days, all money was withdrawn from the account. The victim found out later that there was a new account opened in his name; the account was already empty and counterfeit documents were used to open the account. The bank retained a copy of the driver’s licence: the name, surname, and personal ID number were true, but the photograph was of another person.
E-Banking Codes Disclosed to Scammers Even by Politicians
Data Base of Stolen E-Mail Addresses
Law enforcement officers of Germany have revealed the data base with 18 million e-mail addresses and their passwords stolen by hackers. The data have been handed over to the Federal Information Security Agency to take measures to counter potential cyber attacks. Fraudsters are active using the stolen e-mail addresses for spam. Spiegel Online states that at least 3 million from the stolen addresses belong to the users in Germany. It has also been found out that hackers have stolen approximately 16 million user login names and passwords; most of the victims are German nationals.
