Famous Identity Thieves

What makes an identity thief? Usually greed. What makes an identity thief get caught? Usually greed. Who are the most famous identity thieves? Those are the ones who are the most daring, audacious, and/or who continue their crime undetected for a long period of time, evading the authorities through various methods of trickery that stymie law enforcement. Take for example the case of:

Abraham Abdallah

This 32 year-old busboy at a Brooklyn restaurant masterminded a multimillion dollar caper, stealing the identities of Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Warren Buffet, and Paul Allen among others. Seemed diabolically gifted - perhaps a super-hacker at work, but no, it was just one determined man with the Internet at his disposal and some ingenuity in searching out and finding information online.

Abdallah was apprehended with 800 credit cards, lists of his targets in order of their net worth, social security numbers and credit card information. He would forge letters to the credit reporting agencies like Equifax and Experian from the top investment banks to gain information and make credit inquiries. Using a public library computer, he ordered merchandise online, withdrew money from brokerage accounts and applied for credit in the names of other people. Sounds like a pretty sweet set-up, right? However, greed turned out to be his downfall when he attempted to transfer $10 million from the Merrill Lynch account of Thomas Siebel. Someone got suspicious, and an investigation was launched. A short while later, New York City Police were jumping through the sunroof of his expensive Volvo to subdue and arrest him as he tried to get away.

Anthony Lemar Taylor

Anthony Taylor spent years posing as Eldrick T. Woods. Never heard of Mr. Woods? I’ll bet you have, let me give you a hint: Eldrick Woods can hit a golf ball like no other. Eldrick Woods is a world-famous golfer. Eldrick Woods is African American. Got it down, yet? Well most people did not realize that Eldrick was Tiger Woods’ first name, therefore it was very easy for Anthony Taylor, once he learned of Tiger’s birth name, birth date and social security number, to get away with walking into stores, and even car dealerships and present himself as Eldrick T. Woods and purchase goods on Tiger Woods’ credit. Anthony Lemar Taylor got away with about $17,000 worth of merchandise before he was caught and sentenced under California’s 3-strikes law to 200 years in prison. His attorney is appealing.

Being famous makes you a large and inviting target for identity thieves, but most famous people are getting smart and protecting their identities using one or several of the identity-theft protection services that are available out there, allowing them to sleep more comfortably at night on their mountains of money.