Identity Theft Inc

Identity Theft Inc. by Glenn Hastings and Richard Marcus is a rather amazing book. The overview is that it is written by a former ID fraudster who earned a fortune and got away with it.

The book is well written and provides a very real feeling to the job of being an identity thief. Probably more eye opening, is the descriptions of how the pair turned this into a business. It really was Identity Theft Inc. They kept accounts and records which they used to monitor their progress and improve their results. In other words, they used business and marketing skills to improve their illegal profits.

Also described is how these criminals were able to export much of the merchandise they bought and resell it for a huge discount to trade buyers in Mexico, for extra profits.

The book recounts how other identity based scams were committed against major US mortgage lenders and even casinos! It seems that nothing was safe from them.

However, in the end, the author escapes justice. By falling in love on the Cote d'Azur with a French lady, he did the one thing that many major criminals seem to be incapable of doing - quitting before he was caught!

Some of their methods were ingenious. However in the post September 11th world, where identification databases are cross referenced and photographs and fingerprints automatically passed through the entire system, we doubt that their methods could be so effective again. In that regard, the book can accurately describe their methods and know that it will be very difficult for others to copy.

As a nod to doing the right the thing, the last chapter contains a number of tips and guidance hints about how an individual can and should protect themselves. Of course, these tips are almost identical to every other set of tips you will ever see on the topic of identity theft.

If you like crime capers, then you almost certainly will enjoy this book. If you want to be amazed at the amounts of credit that could be successfully applied for in the early 90s in other people's names, you will also enjoy this book.

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Identity Theft Book Reviews

Other reviewed titles:

Stealing Your Life - The Ultimate Identity Theft Protection Plan by Frank W. Abagnale

Insiders Secrets To Identity Theft And Fraud : What They Don't Want You To Know by T.Carter

Identity Theft by Gavin Mills