Meth addicts use Internet to cash in on identity theft

[mandy]

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Meth addicts use Internet to cash in on identity theft

Since the mid-1990s, methamphetamine addicts have systematically looted garbage bins and mailboxes in search of identity data that can be converted into quick cash to buy the highly addictive stimulant.

Now, in a shift that could further fuel identify theft, meth users and traffickers across North America have embraced computers and the Internet to expand their activities globally...

full article: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/comput...ebar_x.htm

Meth addicts' other habit: Online theft

Internet Relay Chat channels, private areas on the Internet where real-time text messaging takes place, are rife with communications between organized cybercrime groups and meth users and traffickers discussing how they can assist each other. "It's big time," says San Diego-based security consultant Lance James, who monitors IRC channels.

Identity theft has fast become the crime of preference among meth users for three reasons: It is non-violent, criminal penalties for first-time offenders are light — usually a few days or weeks in jail — and the use of computers and the Internet offers crooks anonymity and speed with which to work...

full article: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/intern...heft_x.htm