Submission + - Crooks install keyloggers while working temp jobs, then steal from the IRS (ajc.com)
Green profited by filing false tax returns, a type of scam that slashdot reported on back in August (http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/08/03/214231/identity-theft-may-cost-irs-21-billion-over-next-5-years). According to Detective Ken Stapler with the Atlanta Police Department’s major fraud unit, Green either filed or attempted to file bogus income tax returns in the name of some 150 or more victims, mostly from Georgia and Florida. When he was arrested, Green was driving a $60,000 Mercedes E-550 that he had purchased with a stolen identity. Police believe Green used keystroke grabbers to obtain personal identity information. According to Detective Stapler, “You plug this thing into the back of a computer where the USB cable would go. He can leave it there for as long as he wants, and nobody’s going know unless they look on the back of their computer.”
Detective Stapler also says “A lot of times, what these people do is get hired on with a temp agency. A temp agency may work in an office building cleaning up after hours. Once (one of the would-be ID thieves) gets in the door, he’s got access to those computers. Anytime nobody is looking, he could put the keystroke grabber on.”