Recently, Edmund Seshie and Abdul Rezak Shaib were convicted and sentenced for their part in a bizarre identity theft ring.  Seshie and Shaib bought stolen credit cards and driver’s licenses in bulk on the Dark Web, that part of the Internet where criminals buy and sell stolen information and merchandise.  The credit cards and licenses were then used to buy cars from various dealers around the United States which were then shipped to Africa where the cars were sold.

Seshie and Shaib are both from Ghana where the mastermind behind the crimes, Henry Addo directed the operation.  Addo is presently being sought by law enforcement in Africa.  An interesting aspect of this crime was that according to federal prosecutors, Adda motivated Seshie and Shaib to participate in the criminal operation by invoking Sakawa, which is a Ghanian practice  that combines traditional African religious rituals with modern Internet cybercrime techniques to target foreigners.

TIPS

The best way to prevent identity theft that is related to credit cards is to use your EMV chip card whenever possible and to check your credit card statement regularly to become aware of any compromise of your security as quickly as possible in order to limit the damage.  If you do become a victim of identity theft there are a number of steps that you should take as detailed in the tab “if you are a victim of identity theft” at the top of this page.