New York police have arrested a man who worked as a dish washer in
a restaurant who violated the bank accounts and credit card details
of Steven Spielberg, Oprah Winfrey and over 200 other wealthy
individuals using an internet e-mail account and a WAP phone.
Abraham Abdallah, 32, accessed the bank accounts of over 200
people listed in Forbes magazine’s “Richest People in America” list
and arranged transfers to his own accounts. Among the victims were
Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, Oprah Winfrey and Microsoft
co-founder Paul Allen, although it is not yet known how much he
stole.
Abdallah is thought to have e-mailed credit agencies and
obtained the individual's personal details using a Yahoo! internet
e-mail account accessed from a local library computer and a WAP
phone. Suspicion was raised by Merrill Lynch when the bank received
one of his e-mails requesting a $10 million transfer from the
account of Thomas Siebel of Siebel Systems to an Australian bank
account.
In a raid of Abdallah’s home, police discovered false credit
cards, Social Security numbers, dates of birth and addresses of the
individuals targeted, together with their mothers’ maiden
names.
Abdallah, who has been arrested on numerous occasions and has
spent several years in prison for crimes of dishonesty, denied any
wrongdoing. He is now charged with criminal possession of forged
devices, stolen property and criminal impersonation.
