Ford Credit ID Theft
Ford Motor Credit Co. is warning 13,000 people that they may be vulnerable to identity theft because their credit reports were illegally accessed. FBI's Detroit office is investigating how computer-savvy thieves posed as Ford Credit personnel -- possibly using company pass codes -- to gain access to a database used by Experian, a credit reporting agency, and download the personal information of 13,000 consumers. Only about 400 of the 13,000 individuals were customers of Ford Credit, and about 610 of the victims lived in Michigan, the company said. The 13,000 customers were apparently targeted because they live in affluent areas and were likely to have good credit ratings. In some cases, the credit reports of every homeowner on a given street was downloaded, indicating the thieves were fairly sophisticated. The credit files included social security numbers, addresses, account numbers, creditor names and payment history -- everything needed to commit credit fraud. Ford Credit discovers ID theft
13,000 left exposed in computer fraud
The Detroit News, May 16, 2002
Ford Credit Warns of Identity Theft Associated Press, May 16, 2002
Privacy Right�s Clearinghouse ID Theft Resources
