The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "identity fraud" ...
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Grave Mistakes
Most people have never heard of the Social Security Administration's so-called "Death Master File"- a database of deceased Americans created in 1980 under the Freedom of Information Act as an anti-fraud tool. But each year, many Americans discover that they are listed as deceased by the federal government. Identity thieves have learned to use the Death Master File to commit hundreds of thousands of acts of identity theft for tax fraud, including taking Social Security numbers of recently deceased children.
Tags: Social Security; Fraud; Death Master File; deceased Americans
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Grave Mistakes
An investigation showing how the database of deceased Americans created in 1980 under the Freedom of Information Act accidentally lists thousands of Americans as deceased, suffering frozen bank accounts, refused credit cards, denied student and mortgage loans, or arrests for suspected identity theft. It also exposes how identity thieves have learned to use the filed to commit numerous acts of identity theft for tax fraud.
Tags: identity theft; deceased; federal records; tax fraud
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Home Health Hustler
This investigation exposed a woman using multiple identities to set up and operate fraudulent home health care businesses and bill the government. Their investigation found Irene Anderson, also known as Iya Edwards, was in the country illegally and ordered deported nearly twenty years previous, yet she was able to establish numerous home health care agencies and collect millions of dollars in government money. She received Medicare payments for patients who would not typically qualify for home care coverage and for patients who received no home health care at all. This story exposed lapses in federal healthcare and legal systems as well as in the state regulatory system home health care providers. The news team found several ex-employees who had reported fraud and abuse to the state, but nothing had been done. In fact, the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services claimed it conducted an investigation and found nothing, clearing the way for Anderson to continue to fraudulently bill the federal government. The investigation triggered an arrest, a federal raid, criminal charges, repayment of millions of tax dollars and promises of legislative change.
Tags: Texas; home health care; fraud; Medicare fraud; public records
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Ghost Drivers
"For years, Indiana has suffered the embarrassment and dubious distinction as a "fraud Friendly" state when it comes to obtaining bogus licenses and identification cards. A new administration vowed to put a stop to it. But 13 investigates discovered the state's top agencies for prosecuting fraud weren't following through on the legal end. Investigative Reporter Sandra Chapman began tracking the case of an accused Bureau of Motor Vehicles worker accused of fraud. What she found instead was a system allowing known illegal drivers using social security numbers from decreased residents to operate free and clear of Indiana law."
Tags: identification cards; identity fraud; fake credentials; drivers licenses; driving records
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Navahoax
Fleischer's investigation into the memoirs of Nasdijj, a writer who claims to be Native American. In his award winning memoirs, Nasdijj claims to be of Navajo descent and to have lived a life of tremendous poverty and suffering. In reality Nasdijj is Tim Barrus, a middle class white man with a history as a pornographer. His falsified story borrows heavily from authentic Native American writers.
Tags: Native Americans; identity fraud; memoirs; Navajo; fabrications; internet investigation;
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The Dark Side of the Internet
Sparked by a report that U.S. companies were "supplying cops (in China) with databases, software and hardware needed to track criminals and dissidents", Business Week looks into the many "dark corners of Internet commerce." Click fraud, spyware, online advertising, identity thieves using "virtual currency" are all covered in this series of stories.
Tags: Yahoo.com; Direct Revenue; identity theft; online advertising; click fraud; spyware
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Security at TIAA-CREF Was Huge, Critics Say
When the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Fund discovered the true identity of one of its employees to be an insurance-fraud criminal, the looseness of its security was brought to light. Two supervisors to the criminal say they were fired by the company for reporting data-security problems to company officials.
Tags: Sonia Howe; TIAA-CREF; Christopher O'Keefe; Stephanie Cohen Glass; SEC; loot; fraud; Purdue
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National Security Threat
The story exposed a major security lapse at a Virginia military base. A civilian employee with an identity fraud conviction had the job of making military identification cards and confessed to making fake ones for sale, including to foreign nationals. The identity cards allowed bearers access to sensitive areas of military bases.
Tags: fraud; fake identification; military; U.S. Army; identity fraud; national security; Fort Myer
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"License to Steal"
The article relates to North Carolina's Department of Motor Vehicle's improper disposal of license information. By simply dumping the information, and not shredding its contents, this makes it easier for identities to be stolen, and other important private information (SSN, criminal record, etc.) to be used for fraud.
Tags: Department of Motor Vehicles; identity theft; drivers license
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Focus in Fund Scandal Turns to Bear Stearns; Oppenheimer's Sassano and the Market Timers; The Money Running Dreams of Michael Sassano; Canary Capital Broker Could Face Criminal Charges
The Street finds out that the mutual-fund industry, usually seen as squeaky clean $ 7 trillion worth is riddled with systematic fraud. Street's reporter is led by his sources in brokerage, law and the regulatory world to two identities that are the key players instrumenting this corrupt mechanism. One of them is Bear Sterns, a major Wall Street institution that was coming under regulatory scrutiny. And the other, was Oppenheimer & Co. broker Michael Sassano who had worked with a disproportionate number of the scandal's players.
Tags: investors; Kaplan Securities; Empire Financial Holding; NYSE; Wall Street