Muslim Terrorists Use Stolen American ID’s to Finance War

For years I have been saying that if organized criminals from Russia can create phishing scams to steal ID’s and finance their operations, it is just as easy for Al Queda to do it.

From left to right, Waseem Mughal, Younis Tsouli and Tariq al-Daour. The three men pleaded guilty this week to a terrorism charge in the United Kingdom. (Scotland Yard)

Brian Krebs has an outstanding article in the WaPo here that traces one woman’s Ebay phishing web click to three Muslim men who pleaded guilty to sponsoring terrorism. They were using American money to help finance terror attacks.

The story follows the trail of a woman’s stolen personal data back to three young men in the United Kingdom who were sentenced to prison for inciting murder through an online terrorism network.

A few stats from the piece: The trio stole more than 37,000 credit card numbers, racking up in excess of $3.5 million in fraudulent charges and purchases, including hundreds of prepaid cell phones, and more than 250 airline tickets using 110 different credit cards at 46 airlines and travel agencies. The men also laundered money through online gambling sites — using accounts set up with stolen credit card numbers and victims’ identities.

If you haven’t checked your credit report, you should do so. You could have old accounts that have been opened in your name that you had no idea existed. You can even set it up to have the credit agencies email you whenever a new line of credit is opened so you know immediately if you are a victim to ID theft.