Ringleader Of Young ID Thieves Gets Jail Time
TUCSON, Ariz.–The head of a ring that manufactured phony credit and debit cards to drain accounts at credit unions and banks was sentenced to more than five years behind bars.
Robbin Brown, 27, was one of 17 young people charged in an identity theft ring that obtained personal account information on Internet chat rooms then created counterfeit cards to steal more than $1 million from those accounts at ATMs. In one instance, the ring used one of the bogus cards to withdraw $148,000 in cash from ATMs at Casino Del Sol in Tucson.
The ring hit members and customers at various local credit unions and banks, including DM FCU (now called Vantage West CU), M&I Bank and Bank One (now JPMorgan Chase).
The conspirators, most of them under 25 years old, paid the overseas suppliers of the information in Pakistan, Vietnam, Jordan, Russia, Romania, Canada, Mexico, Morocco and Estonia a commission, generally less than 50% of their earnings, according to prosecutors.
Brown was sentenced to 66 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release. In addition, he was ordered to forfeit electronics and other property he purchased through the scam, and to return funds to his victims’ CU and bank accounts.
Several other participants, including Jacob Green-Bressler, have been jailed. Green-Bressler last year was sentenced to seven years behind bars. Defense lawyers introduced a letter to the judge from Green-Bressler’s parents saying his computer skills were so great, he was offered a job at Microsoft at the age of 12.
Check Image Consortium Agrees On File Formats
NEW YORK–The CheckImage Collaborative has created a Universal Companion Document, which establishes a uniform industry approach for populating and validating check image files.
The creation of the UCD establishes a consistent approach for all industry participants to use when processing check image files. Creation of the uniform standard is aimed at facilitating the implementation of Check 21, the 2004 law that established the legal status of electronic checks and images as on par with paper checks.
The participants in the industry protocol represent virtually every touchpoint in check imaging and include: Electronic Check Clearing House Organization, known as ECCHO, the Federal Reserve, and image exchange networks SVPCO, Viewpoint and Endpoint Exchange.
Through its Image Quality Work Group, the Collaborative marshaled resources from a wide range of financial institutions and major image exchange intermediaries to develop a common, business-based approach toward use of the DSTU 9.37-2003 check image exchange file format standard.
Additionally, the group coordinated its efforts with those of the Accredited Standards Committee X9’s Payments Subcommittee working on the emerging check image exchange file format standard X9.100-187. This resulted in compatibility between the UCD and the emerging X9.100.187 standard which currently is being balloted. This coordination eliminates the need for financial institutions to make additional changes to support the new standard.
As active participants in this effort, intermediaries such as Endpoint Exchange, SVPCO and Viewpoint, as well as the Federal Reserve, have committed to work with their respective customers and vendors to make the necessary changes to check image applications over the next 12 to 18 months.
WesCorp Targets Member Loyalty
SAN DIMAS, Calif.–WesCorp FCU has signed with Satmetrix, co-developer of the Net Promoter customer loyalty system, to develop a loyalty program aimed at its 1,000 members.
Satmetrix will design an organization-wide program that combines its on-demand technology with Net Promoter best practices. WesCorp will be able to collect member feedback at each touch point, evaluate key drivers of loyalty, and prioritize how resources are allocated to improve performance. Real-time data will be distributed to account managers, along with an action plan and tools for them to take the appropriate action that delivers more value to their members. WesCorp officials said the aim is to use member feedback to generate more member-centric solutions.
