Reno Man Created 8,000 Fake Online Accounts via Stolen Identities

One man from Reno, Nevada has pleaded guilty in federal court for creating more than 8,000 fraudulent online accounts using stolen identities, the US Department of Justice reported today. Kenneth Gilbert Gibson intended to use the accounts to commit a $3.5 million fraud operation.

From 2012 to 2017, Gibson created a scheme to steal the identities of multiple victims from a Reno database and use them to open unauthorized accounts, credit accounts, bank accounts, and prepaid cards. The plan was to use these accounts to send about $3.5M to himself via checks and electronic transfers to approximately 500 bank accounts and prepaid cards.

For the 2013 tax year he also filed a fraudulent federal income tax return, which did not include the taxable income generated from this scheme, which totaled about $1,049,070. Gibson pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud, one count of mail fraud, one count of filing a false tax return, and one count of aggravated identity theft. Sentencing is set for July 30, 2018.

Read more details here.

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