Now it's getting personal. A criminal trying to turn stolen personal data into cash has apparently seized on a new, low-tech method -- direct threats. A California teacher who had her identity stolen in early December managed to foil most of . . .
Now it's getting personal. A criminal trying to turn stolen personal data into cash has apparently seized on a new, low-tech method -- direct threats. A California teacher who had her identity stolen in early December managed to foil most of the bank account transfers attempted by the thief. So the criminal turned to personal extortion instead, saying he would leave her alone if she paid $400. When she ignored the demand, the threats escalated: "I'm very angry," he wrote. "Now, you have one big trouble - me! I'll hack all your passwords, all your accounts! I'll spend all your money!"

"Do you think I know nothing about you?" the criminal went on in the rambling note. "Ha-ha! I know your address and now you can't be sure I'm watching for you."

The thief had already seized control of her PayPal and BidPay accounts. He broke into her Yahoo e-mail account, too, and even had rifled through her recent transactions at Amazon.com, and all her auction activity at eBay.com. The teacher used the similar passwords for all her accounts, so once the criminal managed to crack one account, he cracked them all.

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