ZEN AND THE ART OF CREDIT THEFT ------------------------------- LAKESIDE PARK (203) 746-0767 CREDIT THEFT? WHAT IS CREDIT THEFT? I DON'T MEAN CARDING STUFF (WELL, MAYBE, IF YOU'RE INTO THAT SHIT) BUT MORE LIKE USING CREDIT DATA TO FIND OUT INFORMATION ON PEOPLE WHO DON'T THINK ANYONE KNOWS ABOUT THEM... IF YOU CATCH MY DRIFT. BASICALLY, WITH OR WITHOUT GETTING INTO TRW OR ONE OF THE OTHER MAJOR CREDIT DATA SYSTEMS (TRANS-UNION, CBI, CHILTON, ET AL) YOU CAN HAVE A TON AND A HALF OF INFORMATION ABOUT PEOPLE SITTING AT YOUR FINGERTIPS AND YOUR VOICES. A LOT OF TIMES A CONVINCING VOICE CAN CHANGE A LOT OF THINGS. HOW DO YOU THINK ONE ENTERPRISING PHREAK FROM MANY MOONS AGO WALKED RIGHT INTO AN AT&T OFFICE AND CONNED THE SECRETARY TO GIVE HIM THE COSMOS MANUAL? DON'T THINK IT'S THE "PRETTY-FACE" SYNDROME... ANYWAY, THE THING YOU ARE DOING WHEN YOU VOICE-VERIFY OR OBTAIN INFORMATION ABOUT PEOPLE IS CALLED SKIP-TRACING. IT IS A SYSTEM OF PEOPLE THAT WORK FOR CREDIT COMPANIES (LIKE GENERAL ELECTRIC CREDIT CORPORATION FOR INSTANCE; MACYS, SEARS, CITIBANK, ET AL) THAT ARE EMPLOYED TO DO ONE THING AND ONE THING ONLY: LOCATE PEOPLE; PEOPLE THAT MOVE AND LEAVE NO FORWARDING ADDRESS, CHANGE THEIR FONES TO NON-PUBLISHED NUMBERS, CHANGE JOBS, OR JUST PLAIN "SKIP-OUT" ON THEIR CREDITORS. AT THE END OF THIS FILE, THERE WILL BE A LIST OF FONE NUMBERS. GUARD THESE NUMBERS CAREFULLY. THEY CAN BE YOUR TICKET TO TONS OF INFORMATION. -+ TRW AND CREDIT BUREAUS +- CREDIT DATA CORPORATIONS ARE A DISASTER AREA. THEY DEAL WITH HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF CREDITORS AND DEBITORS EACH DAY. IF YOU HAVE THE POWER TO GET YOUR HANDS ON A CREDIT REPORT, GO FOR IT. IF YOU CAN'T, THEN JUST GET A COPY OF A CREDIT CARBON OR A CREDIT CARD NUMBER. THE REST FALLS RIGHT INTO PLACE. TRANS-UNION, THE FIRST AND LARGEST CREDIT DATA SYSTEM, IS THE WORST TO DEAL WITH. DUE TO THE INFLUX OF HACKERS BUSTING INTO THEIR SYSTEM, THEY ARE BEGINNING TO SCRAMBLE ACCOUNT NUMBERS. UNFORTUNATELY, THEY DID NOT TELL A LOT OF THE COMPANIES THAT POST DATA ON REPORTS ABOUT IT! THIS IS VERY GOOD FOR US, BECAUSE... WELL, I'LL EXPLAIN IN A MINUTE. CBI IS THE BEST TO READ, SINCE THE DATA IS LAID OUT FOR THE MOST COMPLEX IDIOT TO READ WITH NO DIFFICULTY. YOU CAN TAKE AN ACCOUNT NUMBER OFF OF A CBI CREDIT REPORT AND CALL A MAIL ORDER PLACE WITH THE NUMBER. THEY ARE THE EXACT DUPLICATES OF CARD NUMBERS. (STUPID PEOPLE) CBI'S AND TRW (ACTUALLY NAMED "CREDIT DATA CORPORATION") ARE SET UP LIKE THUS: CBI CREDIT REPORT 10-NOV-1987 SEARCH KEY: 1J82HYT6-HUJITY-JONES-D 1-PURE HIT P1: JONES, DOROTHY P2: FEMALE P3: 3-APR-52 P4: 123-45-6789 P5: 305-555-1212 P6: SPOUSE ADTL INFO PA: 123 SIMPLE STREET, ANYTOWN, FLORIDA 19039 FA: 839 ANYWHERE LANE, HORSEHIT, KANSAS 12374 PE: IBM CORPORATION PE1: SYSTEMS ANALYST PVE: MCDONALDS CORP PV1: COST CONSULTANT THIS IS THE HEADER SECTION OF THE REPORT. IGNORE THE FIRST FEW LINES. THE REAL BEEF STARTS AT 'P1'. OBVIOUSLY, READING LEFT TO RIGHT, LINE BY LINE, THE INFO IS: NAME, SEX, DATE OF BIRTH, SOCIAL SECURITY #, MOST RECENT HOME FONE #, AND HER MARITAL STATUS (P6 STANDS FOR "ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FOUND IN SPOUSE'S FILE"). 'PA' IS HER PRESENT ADDRESS, AND THE OTHER IS HER MOST FORMER ADDRESS. 'PE' IS PRESENT EMPLOYER AND HER JOB TITLE, AND 'PVE' IS HER MOST RECENT DOCUMENTED PREVIOUS EMPLOYER AND JOB DESCRIPTION. NOW ONTO THE GOOD STUFF: SUBSR ID FIRM HI-CR/BAL CR-LIM 30/60/90 ACCOUNT PAYOFF -------- ---- --------- ------ -- -- -- ------- ------ BB23948-9 CITIBANK NA IL 10K 10K 00/00/00 52142039483957546-9T 125M BB9483940 GECC 3805 4000 01/00/00 514B-0039-234567-1 15M ACTS: NO STATUS CHANGE REPORTED NOW... THIS SHOWS THAT SHE HAS TWO CREDITORS, GECC AND CITIBANK. YOU CAN TELL THAT SHE'S INTO AN INSTALLMENT LOAN THROUGH CITIBANK (THE "IL" AFTER THE FIRM GIVES IT AWAY) FOR 10K (UNDER "HI-CREDIT/BALANCE"), AND SHE PAYS $125 PER MONTH ON IT ("125M"). YOU CAN ALSO SEE THAT SHE'S NEVER BEEN DELINQUENT WITH IT. SPEAKING OF DELINQUENCY... YOU CAN TELL HOW MANY MONTHS DUE TO A CREDITOR SHE IS BY LOOKING AT THE 30/60/90 - 30 DAYS, 60 DAYS, 90 DAYS, ETC.. SO SHE'S BEEN 1 MONTH DUE WITH GECC NOW, HAS A $3805 BALANCE AND A FOUR GRAND CREDIT LIMIT, WITH MONTHLY PAYMENTS OF $15 PER MONTH. SIMPLE RIGHT? THE "ACTS" ARE COMMENTS THAT THE CREDIT COMPANIES SEND TO THE BUREAUS THAT TELL OF LOST OR STOLEN CARDS, BALANCE DISPUTES, CLOSED ACCOUNTS, PAID OFF ACCOUNTS, ETC. NOW, ONCE YOU HAVE INFORMATION LIKE THIS, THE REST OF THE PROCESS BASES ON HOW GOOD OF A BULLSHIT ARTIST YOU ARE. IF YOU CAN STUMBLE HOME STONED AND CONVINCE YOUR FOLKS THAT YOU WENT TO SEE "THE SMURFS TAKE MANHATTAN", YOU'RE ALL SET. I JUST REALIZED... I FORGOT TO TELL YOU ABOUT THREE MORE COLUMNS ON THE BUREAUS! FORGIVE ME, FOR I AM TRYING TO CRAM 132 COLUMN REPORTS INTO 80, AND I AM HAVING DIFFICULTY. IN BETWEEN THE MARGAIN AND THE ACCOUNT NUMBERS ARE THREE DATES: LAST-PR LAST-PY DT-OPND ------- ------- ------- 10-85 10-87 10-85 (CITIBANK, LET'S SAY) 10-87 11-87 4-81 (GECC, LET'S SAY) OBVIOUSLY, THE FIRST ONE IS "LAST PURCHASE DATE", THE SECOND IS "LAST PAYMENT DATE (PAYMENT RECEIVED)", AND THE LAST IS "DATE ACCOUNT OPENED". YOU CAN TELL THAT HER GECC ACCOUNT IS AN ACTIVE CREDIT CARD, SHE JUST MADE HER NOVEMBER PAYMENT, OPENED THE ACCOUNT IN APRIL OF 1981, AND USED THE CARD LAST MONTH. GECC, ALTHOUGH IT IS A CREDIT "WAREHOUSE" OF SORTS, HANDLES THE FINANCING FOR THOUSANDS OF COMPANIES, INCLUDING CREDIT CARDS FOR APPLE COMPUTER, IBM, COMMDORE/AMIGA, CALDOR, FORTUNOFF, CANON, SYMS, AND ALMOST 350 OTHERS. YOU CAN NEVER TELL WHAT TYPE OF ACCOUNT IT IS UNLESS YOU ASK THEM... WHICH IS MY NEXT TOPIC! -+ SKIP TRACING: GET THAT BIMBO ON THE OTHER END TO TALK +- FIRST, GRAB YOUR BUREAU AND CHECK FOR SOME "CURRENT" ACCOUNT, MEANING ACCOUNTS THAT HAVE BEEN USED WITHIN THE PAST FEW MONTHS. THEY USUALLY LEAD TO CURRENT INFORMATION. CHECK THE FIRM, PULL OUT YOUR HANDY-DANDY LIST OF CREDITORS AND GIVE 'EM A CALL. THE FOLLOWING IS A TRANSCRIPT OF A NORMAL SKIP TRACING CONVERSATION... T = THEM AND U = US, JUST TO CLARIFY. T: GOOD AFTERNOON, THIS IS CITIBANK. CAN I HELP YOU? U: YES, I'M CALLING FROM GECC ON A SKIP TRACE. CAN YOU HELP ME? T: ON A MASTERCARD OR VISA, SIR? U: IT'S A LOAN, MA'AM. T: ET ME TRANSFER YOU. PLEASE HOLD. T: HELLO, CITIBANK. U: YES, I'M CALLING FROM GECC ON A SKIP TRACE. T: DO YOU HAVE AN ACCOUNT NUMBER? U: YES I DO, IT'S 81457920345723024570832570 WHATEVER T: ONE MOMENT... T: WHERE ARE YOU CALLING FROM AGAIN? U: GECC. GENERAL ELECTRIC CREDIT CORPORATION. T: OK, AND THIS IS FOR WHOM? U: DOROTHY JONES. T: OK, WHAT DO YOU NEED TO KNOW? HA HA! FROM HERE, YOU GOT WHATEVER YOU WANT. SOME STANDARDS ARE: "DO YOU HAVE A GOOD H# (HOME #) FOR HER?" "WHERE DO YOU SHOW HER AT?" "DO YOU HAVE A POB (PLACE OF BUSINESS) ON HER?" ...AND FROM THERE ON, YOU CAN GET PRETTY MUCH ANY INFO OUT OF THE CREDITOR THAT YOU WANT. USUALLY, IF THE ACCOUNT THAT MS. JONES HAS WITH CITIBANK IS NOT DELINQUENT, THEY MAY NOT GIVE YOU ANY INFORMATION, BUT CERTAIN COMPANIES WILL TELL YOU ANYTHING, EVEN START GOING THROUGH THE PERSON'S PAYMENT HISTORY WITH YOU... "WELL, IN OCTOBER OF 1974, SHE WAS LATE BECAUSE HER DAUGHTER GOT HIT BY A TRUCK..." I THINK YOU CATCH MY DRIFT. REMEMBER I MENTIONED TRANS-UNION SCRAMBLING ACCOUNT NUMBERS? WELL, SOMETIMES IF YOU GIVE ANOTHER CREDITOR A SCRAMBLED ACCOUNT NUMBER, OR A PARTIAL ACCOUNT NUMBER, THEY'LL FREAK OUT ON YOU. THERE IS AN EASY WAY AROUND THIS: REMEMBER THAT MANY CREDITORS HATE TRANS-UNION FOR SCRAMBLING AND NOT TELLING THEM HOW THEY ARE ENCODED, SO JUST SAY: "I'M READING THIS OFF OF A TRANS-UNION BUREAU - YOU KNOW THEY SCRAMBLE ACCOUNTS." THEN, THEY'LL EITHER TELL YOU POLITELY TO GO TO HELL ON THE END OF THEIR DICK, OR WILL ASK YOU FOR NAME OR SOCIAL TO CROSS REF THEM WITH. REMEMBER: WHERE THERE IS A REASON, THERE IS A WAY. NOW, ONTO THOSE NUMBERS! IF YOU GET A BUREAU WITH A FIRM THAT IS NOT LISTED BELOW, YOU CAN CHEAT AND CALL TRW OR CBI THEMSELVES AND ASK TO HAVE A NUMBER DECODED... THE FIRST NUMBER LISTED ON THE BUREAU IS THE "SUBSCRIBER NUMBER" WHICH IDENTIFIES THE CREDITOR TO TRW. YOU CAN CALL CBI, GIVE THEM THE SUBSCRIBER NUMBER, AND THEY'LL GIVE YOU A FONE # AND/OR ADDRESS TO GET AHOLD OF THE CREDITOR AT. AND YOU THOUGHT THIS WOULD BE EASY... WELL, HERE GOES. ABRAHAM AND STRAUSS.........718-802-1596 BRYAN ALDEN.................312-854-4141......312-854-2427 AMERICAN EXPRESS............201-981-9600 AMERICAN AIRLINES...........918-254-3720......918-832-4906 AMERICAN CREDITOR BUREAU....301-445-0875 ARLINGTON TRUST.............617-681-7230 ASSOCIATED FINANCE..........214-438-1342......617-757-7471...401-438-6100 BAMBERGERS..................201-272-0706......800-624-0199...913-451-3333 BANK OF AMERICA.............818-578-5396......818-578-5087...818-578-7896 BANK OF BALTIMORE...........301-244-3360......301-244-3413 BANK OF BOSTON..............617-391-5728......203-789-4589 BANK OF NEW ENGLAND.........617-678-8343......617-973-2679 BANK OF NEW YORK............914-899-6844......516-496-2000...302-454-6029 BANK OF OHIO................800-848-9069......614-863-8025 BANK ONE....................614-265-2198 BARCLAYS....................914-472-5000 BANK OF VIRGINIA............804-747-2000 BAY BANK....................617-894-6500......617-647-5048 BENEFICIAL NATIONAL BANK....302-792-4026......800-441-1515 BLOOMINGDALES...............212-613-4838......212-613-4865...212-613-4873 BUNWIT TELLER...............212-764-7626 BRADLEES....................516-673-2606......516-673-2357 BROCKTON SAVINGS............617-586-6070 ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITTANICA.....312-347-7007 CONNECTICUT SNET CN/A.......203-789-6815 CALDOR CENTRAL...............301-337-2600 CENTRAL FIDELITY............804-782-4220......800-828-3968 CHASE MANHATTAN.............516-745-7477......516-326-3800...516-574-4558 516-574-5151 CHASE NWBD..................914-633-6000......516-745-7477 CHEMICAL BANK...............516-385-5122......312-462-5504...312-462-5509 516-385-5251 CWT.........................617-399-6020 CHILTON.....................203-659-3793 CHRYSLER CREDIT.............413-562-7508......203-265-7115...516-741-4520 CITIBANK....................516-391-2174......516-391-2610...516-391-2611 800-336-0046......800-391-2392...201-544-9707 800-843-0777......201-544-0710...212-613-6932 914-654-3105......800-235-6764...800-235-6260 800-243-0777 COLES NATIONAL LOOKOUT......402-473-9717 COLES DATA CENTRAL..........516-561-6644 COLONIAL BANK...............203-789-4600......800-922-0550 DINERS CLUB.................303-799-9000......303-649-2791 DISCOVER CARD SERVICES......614-755-3280......302-323-7652...302-323-7813 302-323-7484 DRY DOCK....................516-935-3131......516-931-1015 EASTERN AIRLINES............404-325-5619 EQUITABLE BANK..............800-441-8027......800-441-7787...800-441-4501 800-826-5031 EURO-AMERICAN BANK..........516-296-5950......516-296-5962...516-296-6013 FINANCE ONE.................201-741-9000 FIRST ATLANTIC CREDIT.......201-222-8343 FIRST FIDELITY..............201-565-6280......201-565-3866...201-565-3931 201-565-3200 FIRST OMNI..................800-441-8026......302-934-2146 FIRST JERSEY................201-547-7295 FIRESTONE...................800-321-3950 FIRST VIRGINIA..............703-425-4379 FIRST CHICAGO...............516-296-7523 FIRST FLORIDA...............800-352-2265 FLEET NATIONAL..............401-278-6000......401-278-6726 F.N.B.......................404-588-5000 FORD MOTOR CREDIT...........203-234-0414 G. FOX......................203-241-3377......203-241-3052 GECAL (GE AUTO LEASE).......312-384-6600 GECC (GENERAL ELECTRIC).....800-243-4257......203-748-8420 GMAC........................201-325-5000......201-389-0022 J.C. PENNY..................312-699-2729......609-772-3366 LERNERS.....................404-393-6230 MACY'S......................201-272-0444 MAY COMPANY.................213-683-1144 FIRST OMNI..................302-934-2771 SEARS.......................914-997-5421......413-543-4920 SPIEGEL.....................800-523-6576......312-954-2772 STERNS & FOSTER.............800-451-0077 TRANS-UNION.................215-496-6689......718-830-5311 DON'T FORGET, THERE'S A TON AND A HALF MORE OF THESE, BUT, AS YOU'LL FIND OUT BY FOOLING AROUND WITH THEM, CERTAIN COMPANIES HAVE "DIVISIONS" ALL OVER THE COUNTRY, AND, FOR INSTANCE, SEARS MAY SEND YOU HALF-WAY TO CALIFORNIA AND BACK FOR AN ACCOUNT LISTED TO A PERSON IN VERMONT. HAPPY HACKING.... MR. XEROX, NOVEMBER 1987 CALL LAKESIDE PARK 203-746-0767 "WE CAN SHARE THE WOMEN, WE CAN SHARE THE WINE, WE CAN SHARE WHAT WE GOT OF YOURS, 'CAUSE WE DONE SHARED ALL OF MINE..." -BOB WEIR, "JACK STRAW" DOWNLOADED FROM P-80 SYSTEMS......