Abraham Abdallah was a serial identity thief who stole the identities of some of the richest people in America in order to raid their bank accounts. His crimes were described as 'the biggest identity theft in internet history.' His potential victims included the likes of Steven Spielburg and Oprah Winfrey. He consulted Forbes magazine to find a list of the richest celebrities and then he would use the internet to illegally gain access to the confidential information such as social security numbers, addresses and dates of birth along with bank and credit card accounts of the celebrities. He also hacked into smart phone services to track the packages in the celebrities name and to be able to pick up their messages anywhere he was in America.
Impact
In the end the crimes of Abdallah posed a large threat but in the end they had little impact, it was reported at the time that he attempted to steal $22m (£14m) but he was unsuccessful for the most part. One of his main targets was Steven Spielburg and his representatives said 'his client's funds had never been violated.'
Resolution
Upon his arrest in 2002 Abdallah admitted 12 separate counts of fraud including wire fraud, credit card fraud and identity theft. Upon pleading guilty he was sentenced to 11 years in prison.
References
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/2298661.stm
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2001/mar/21/hacking.security
http://archives.jrn.columbia.edu/2009/thebrooklynink/brooklyn/busboy-arrested-for-80-million-identity-theft-attempt.html
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