Case studies

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Australasian Cases

• In March 2001, a man used up to 50 false identities in a $7 million property fraud spanning Victoria, NSW and ACT. The offender and an accomplice used the false identities in order to obtain a series of home loans from banks and financial institutions.

• A bank manager and his assistant created accounts in fictitious names and in the names of relatives, amounting to about $1.5 million. They established the false loan accounts by circumventing proof of identity processes and disregarding internal banking procedures. The false loans were discovered in 2001 when one of the loans went into default and enquiries were conducted to try and find the fictitious customer.

• In 1997, a 24 year old female applied for 61 credit cards in false names, of which 45 were granted. Some of these identities were fictitious but many of them were real, including some people known to her from her school days. This resulted in the destruction of credit of many, one of whom also suffered the additional indignity of being named by the applicant as her co-offender and mentor in the frauds.

• A solicitor used false drivers' licences and birth certificates to open bank accounts to transfer money obtained from share trading accounts. Money from the sale of shares in the three eldery victims' accounts was then transferred into the false accounts.

• An organised group of car thieves obtained personal details of people who owned cars of the same make and model as the vehicles they had stolen. They used this information to obtain duplicate registration certificates, labels and plates to re-identify the stolen vehicles prior to selling them to unsuspecting purchasers. Many of the identity theft victims experienced ongoing problems in proving that they had no involvement in the transactions.

• During 2001 an offender created a series of fictitious identities by producing various false proof of identity documents on his home computer. These documents, which included altered birth certificates, employment documents and utility bills, were used to open credit card accounts, lines of credit, finance and other loans. One of the major purchases made by the offender was a $35,000 ski boat which he proudly named 'Crime Pays'. When he was arrested the police found further false identities in his possession.

• A male assumed the identities of four babies, who had died in the 1970s by obtaining their birth certificates. Over an 8-month period he obtained $20,857 in the form of unemployment benefits in the dead infants' names. He was arrested in possession of many false proof of identity documents to support his welfare claims including motor vehicle learner's permits, mobile phone accounts, student cards, rental leases and bank account access cards.

• A man came into Australia using the passport of a brother of a female friend. He then used the passport of another of her brothers to establish a false, more secure identity. He was eventually charged and convicted of the second brothers' murder.

International Cases

• An offender allegedly found and killed a homeless man so he could fake his own death and avoid prosecution for counterfeiting.

• Houses owned by elderly citizens were targeted by criminals who assumed their identities in order to fraudulently sell or finance their property.

• A hospital employee allegedly stole 393 hospital patients' identities to obtain credit card details.

• An employee allegedly stole a company executive's identity and sold his portfolio of shares.

• A trainee dishwasher allegedly used the Internet at a local library to steal the identities of 200 celebrities so that he could run up bills in their names online. He allegedly set up an elaborate network of post office boxes, web enabled mobile phones and online voice mail services so that he could fool banks and avoid detection.

• A janitor at a radio station in the USA stole charity donation records and sold them to a multi-state identity theft ring. This information, which contained credit card details and data gleaned from personal cheques, was then used to obtain goods, loans and other benefits.

• A suspected al-Qa'ida terrorist was arrested in Canada in July 2002 and has been linked to an Australian passport found in the homes of two alleged cohorts. The suspect was wanted in the Netherlands on a charge of conspiring to blow up the US embassy in Paris and for supplying a fake passport to two former room-mates who were found in possession of 41 other fake passports and identity papers.

• The September 11 hijackers opened 35 American bank accounts without having legitimate Social Security Numbers, none of which were checked or queried by bank officers. As a result the highjackers were able to move hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Middle East into the US through a maze of bank accounts commencing a year prior to the attacks.

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