#RSS Home [bp.specificclick.net?pixid=99004176] [rss_logo_new.png] Chicago Breaking News * Powered By * [wgntv_new.png] * [cltv_new.png] * [wgnradio_new.png] * [ct.com_new.png] in Chicago Current Weather ____________________ Go Get weather alerts Get traffic alerts [radar_overlay.gif] [EMBED] Find a story: ____________________ Search * Neighborhood News Pages * Breaking news video * Live newsroom cam * Live WGN radio AT&T temp charged with stealing worker info July 8, 2009 6:01 PM | No Comments A temporary employee for AT&T was arrested today on charges she stole personal information on 2,100 co-workers and then pocketed more than $70,000 by taking out short-term payday loans in the names of 130 of them. Cassandra Walls, 25, of Chicago was indicted on 5 counts of wire fraud and 5 counts of aggravated identity theft in federal court. Walls allegedly stole co-workers' personal information, including Social Security numbers and dates of birth, and then took out numerous payday loans in their names online. Jermaine Jones, 27, who lives with Walls, and Walls' sister, Deedra Massey, 40, of Naperville were also indicted. All three were taken into custody this morning and then released on $4,500 bond each following appearances in federal court. According to the indictment, the fraudulently obtained loans were wired to bank accounts controlled by the trio. Some victims remained unaware of the scam until they were contacted by collection agencies, said Mike Carroll, a U.S. postal inspector in Chicago. In some instances, Walls allegedly was able to obtain payday loans after cutting and pasting victim information onto dummy pay stubs and faxing them to the loan companies, authorities said. --Jeff Coen Categories: * federal court, * identity theft More Breaking News: previous U. of I. law school got $300K in clout deal next U. of I. law school got $300K in clout deal 0 Comments Minh N on July 9, 2009 12:47 PM Why is the bond so low ? sham on them. Kimmy on July 10, 2009 9:34 PM I worked for Washington Mutual Mortgage call center in Vernon Hills, IL, and I often thought sometimes the information a Customer Service Rep has access to is a little too much. How much information is on a home loan application? The answer is everything. You can't pay reps $8.00/HR, and give them that kind of access to personal credit information. Every phone company rep has access to just as much. Kevin on July 12, 2009 9:51 AM Our Law system really stinks in the US !! I don't care if someone makes $8.00/HR or $50.00/HR, they need to be locked up for a long time to deter identity theft in the US. The current deterants are not working so the laws must get tougher on the criminals. The bond was low enough that these 3 thugs can get out of jail and ruin more lives, probably the same day. I also believe these criminals should not only be liable civil court as well as ciminal court. Let the victims get revenge by getting money/property from the criminals-oh that would be too sweet. Lastly---SHAME ON AT&T--- For not protecting their employees information they should be liable to a class action law suit. If I was an employee I would look into it. Because it is happening all over society this huge issue should not be swept under the rug so easily. It is a disgrace that a company with millions of customer records can't protect their employees records. It makes you wonder if AT&T was sued by their employees that they may work harder at protecting sensitive infomation better. Regardless we as a society need to communicate with lawmakers of this crime that has way too many vicitims and the guilty usually are back at it again as long as there are guilable companies like AT&T(that are not responsible). Larry Mott on July 13, 2009 1:27 PM While I understand everyone's anger at Identity Thieves and yes the law should be more stringent on the thieves, here is the problem, as reported by the Federal Trade Commission: Only 1 in 700 thieves are prosecuted in America because most of the time they are not caught. There is no way to stop it...all we can do is protect ourselves with a product that detects the problem early, deals with all 5 areas of Identity Theft (not just Financial), and does all of the restoration for it's client, no out of pocket expense. Visit my web site or contact me for more information. Have a great day. 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