Top Identity Thief Talks Openly About Identity Theft And Tax Time
Walnut Creel California (PRWEB) March 05, 2014 -- In a first-of-a-kind documentary, the Identity Theft Council today released an excerpt from a series of in-depth video interviews with the nation’s most dangerous identity thief, in an effort to remind consumers about the heightened risk of identity theft during tax season and beyond.
In the Company of Thieves is an upcoming documentary series based around candid on-camera interviews with some of the nation’s most dangerous identity thieves and cyber crooks, in the hope that their words and experience will help consumers and law enforcement better understand how to address the threats of identity theft.
The first part of the series focuses on Ray, described by law enforcement as the most dangerous identity thief in America. Over his thirty-year career Ray is believed to have defrauded banks, credit card companies, retailers, insurance companies, and consumers out of millions of dollars.
“Ray is the most compelling identity thief I’ve ever come across, and probably the most skilled and dangerous,” said Neal O’Farrell, founder of the Identity Theft Council. “Ray’s frightening mixture of deep skills, a brilliant and inquisitive mind, sociopathic personality, and addiction to identity theft, combines with more than 30 years as a professional crook to earn him a daunting reputation. His willingness to talk honestly and openly about his crimes gave us a priceless opportunity to understand identity theft from a unique perspective.”
Ray was so good at this job he was never arrested once in his first twenty years as an identity thief, until he came to the attention of an agricultural cop working his last day as a patrol officer in California’s wine country.
In the trailer to the documentary series, Ray talks openly about identity theft at tax time, and how easy it is for thieves like him to make tens of thousands of dollars a day from this crime. Ray points out that while tax season is very lucrative for identity thieves, professionals like him work 365 days a year busily stealing information, cloning identities, and committing every conceivable type of fraud.
“Identity thieves tell us that tax time is like Disneyland, and of how easy it is to make small fortunes in just a few months,” according to Mr. O’Farrell. “But tax time should be a reminder that identity thieves are busy all year round, are becoming increasingly skilled, and are not deterred by the risk of stiff sentences.”
In the Company of Thieves will be released in the Spring of 2014, and the excerpt and background story can be viewed at http://www.identitytheftcouncil.org. The production of the documentary was funded by a generous donation from Experian’s ProtectMyID®.
ABOUT THE COUNCIL
The non-profit Identity Theft Council was founded in 2010 as a partnership between law enforcement, security experts, and consumer groups to find more effective ways to support victims, train law enforcement, and educate the community about identity theft and how to avoid it. In 2011 the council was honored as the first non-profit to win the coveted SC Magazine Editor’s Choice Award. Previous winners include the SANS Institute and the NSA. Partners in the Council include the Council of Better Business Bureaus, the Elder Financial Protection Network, the Online Trust Alliance, and the Identity Theft Resource Center. The Council is based in the San Francisco east bay city of Walnut Creek, hailed as the nation’s first Cyber Secure City and the first city in the nation to train its entire police department in identity theft awareness. For more information visit http://www.identitytheftcouncil.org.
Neal OFarrell, The Identity Theft Council, http://www.identitytheftcouncil.org, +1 (925) 914-0248, [email protected]
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