Cummings was an employee of Teledata Communications, the maker of credit report accessing software, from mid-1999 to March 2000, during which time he allegedly obtained client passwords and codes that enabled him to download personal credit reports.
In the three-year period over which the fraud operated, Cummings allegedly downloaded tens of thousands of credit reports from all major credit reporting agencies and then sold them, for $60 each, to a ring of 20 people in the Bronx and Brooklyn.
These fraudsters then used the stolen information to take over victims' identities, request credit cards, transfer funds from bank accounts and make fraudulent purchases, resulting in a massive loss to victims. Initial estimates put the figure at over $2.7 million, but authorities now believe that more than $50 million was stolen.
The scam was revealed in February 2002 when Ford Motor Credit discovered it was being billed for thousands of credit reports it never ordered. After an investigation, Cummings was arrested and charged with being a member of a ring of identity thieves.
On Tuesday he was given the maximum sentence.
