A Nigerian citizen has been sentenced to 16 months in a California prison in connection with the theft of 144,778 consumer data files from ChoicePoint.
California authorities arrested Nigerian national Olatunji Oluwatosin, 41, in October in connection with the ChoicePoint case. Oluwatosin had five cell phones and three credit cards in other peoples' names. He pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 16 months in jail.
ChoicePoint said that criminals pretending to be legitimate companies stole credit reports, Social Security Numbers, driver's license numbers and other personal information of consumers across the United States, but the company said criminals did not breach or hack into the company's network.
At its Web site ChoicePoint indicated it has distributed notification to 144,778 consumers. It also reported it is taking steps to avoid being duped in the future, including rescreening more than 17,000 customers to make sure they are legitimate businesses.
Of the 145,000 victims so far, 750 have lost money, including a man whose bank account was drained of $12,000.
"These criminals were able to pass our customer authentication due diligence processes by using stolen identities to create and produce the documents needed to appear legitimate," ChoicePoint said in a written statement.
"As small business customers of ChoicePoint, these fraudsters accessed products that contained basic telephone directory-type data (name and address information) as well as a combination of Social Security numbers and/or driver's license numbers and, at times, abbreviated credit reports."
"They were also able to obtain other public record information including, but not limited to bankruptcies, liens, and judgments; professional licenses; and real property data," the compapny said.
The company said it has hired retired U.S. Secret Service veteran Robert McConnell to be its liaison to law enforcement officials and to suggest preventative measures. During his last five years with the Secret Service, McConnell headed the interagency task force that investigated Nigerian Organized Crime.
