ATLANTA — A Georgia State University researcher showed Channel 2 consumer investigator Justin Gray retirement accounts from major investment firms for sale by identity thieves on the dark web.
“Three months ago, we started to see folks getting more and more interested in investment accounts. We started to see more compromised investment accounts surfacing to the ecosystem,” Professor David Maimon said.
His team monitors for identity theft on the dark web and other online forums.
“So, this one has $359,000 in it. And it’s got a screenshot to show me whose account it is?” asked Gray, while Maimon showed him one of the accounts for sale.
Everything you need to steal that retirement account was being offered for sale in an online ad.
“We’re seeing the name of the account holder. We’re seeing the balance on the account. And then usually when you purchase, the vendor gives you more really interesting information,” Maimon said.
In December, Channel 2 Action News Investigates showed you how fraudsters added names to the Fidelity accounts of 86-year-old Fayetteville resident Nancy Smith and stole nearly $50,00 dollars from her retirement savings.
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“It’s been so stressful for me, and it’s scary. I mean, I don’t have time to launch a second career,” Smith said.
Fidelity returned her stolen money after our original story aired. But Smith said she is still dealing with problems tied to the fraud.
When she got her tax statements from Fidelity to provide the IRS the name of the person who allegedly stole the money is on the tax form alongside hers.
“When you have another person’s name on your tax reporting, that’s really scary,” Smith said.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said his office stepped in after seeing our story.
“We saw your show. That’s when we really realized, ‘Hey, there’s an issue here.’ We just want to make sure that financial organizations and their instruments have security protocols in place that meet all the federal guidelines,” Raffensperger told Gray.
Even though Fidelity has returned the money, the Secretary of State’s office said their investigation continues.
“Under the Securities Act, we do have the ability to go into these brokerage firms and investment firms to do books and records reviews to see are they complying,’ said Secretary of State Assistant Commissioner of Securities Noula Zaharis.
Fidelity said they have closed all accounts with names other than Smith’s attached to them, returned all the money and provided the IRS information to make sure there are no tax consequences.
“Oh my God. I cannot tell you how big a relief it was. But in a way, I really didn’t quite trust it. Just because it’s there one day does not mean that it will be there the next day,” Smith said.
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