[yardie]

I wonder how much of his personal information was gleaned from "respectable" American companies like Lexis-Nexis, Equifax, and Transperian? I'm sure they gave everything and medical history for the price of a few coins. I have no respect for companies that don't respect my privacy. And I make it a habit of giving them as much useless, inaccurate information as possible.

[kerkeslager]

> And I make it a habit of giving them as much useless, inaccurate information as possible.

How do you do this? (Specifically, with the companies you mentioned.)

[oyebenny]

I would like to know this as well.

[ryanlol]

Easy, you just lie when people ask. Apply for store loyalty cards and similar with fake information to get that associated with your data broker profiles.

You could also open phone lines with fake information, ISP accounts and so on.

A good investigator with expensive access will still be able to track you down, but automatically exploiting your data will be much more difficult if it's a mess.

[kerkeslager]

We're not talking about just any data brokers though, the parent comment mentioned credit bureaus specifically.

I'm not a lawyer, but if you're applying for a line of credit with false information, I'm pretty sure that's a crime.

If you're not applying for a line of credit, I don't think credit bureaus such as Equifax or "Transperian" (which I assume is a portmanteau of TransUnion and Experian) will base anything on that data, since it's so obviously easy to manipulate.

[ryanlol]

>I'm not a lawyer, but if you're applying for a line of credit with false information, I'm pretty sure that's a crime.

I'm definitely not a lawyer, but unless your intent is to defraud I wouldn't be so sure about that. I also don't see how you'd ever end up getting prosecuted for this unless you really piss someone off, in which case I guess you could get prosecuted for just about anything.

In any case, whether or not this is legal seems utterly irrelevant.

>If you're not applying for a line of credit, I don't think credit bureaus such as Equifax or "Transperian" (which I assume is a portmanteau of TransUnion and Experian) will base anything on that data, since it's so obviously easy to manipulate.

You would be wrong. That'd be an awful way to maintain up-to-date address data on people.

Besides, the first company named was "Lexis-Nexis".

[kerkeslager]

> > If you're not applying for a line of credit, I don't think credit bureaus such as Equifax or "Transperian" (which I assume is a portmanteau of TransUnion and Experian) will base anything on that data, since it's so obviously easy to manipulate.

> You would be wrong. That'd be an awful way to maintain up-to-date address data on people.

Okay, could you cite this, please? I've been very clear that I'm just speculating, but if you're so sure maybe you have some insider information I don't?

My credit reports don't have my up-to-date address, so whatever they are doing is an awful way to maintain an up-to-date address.

[smogcutter]

“Honestly your honor, I wasn’t going to use the loan I applied for with false information, I was just trying to briefly confuse hackers and advertisers!”

But I really don’t know, because I’m also not a lawyer and therefore do not give people legal advice on the internet.

[gtirloni]

Your advice here is very dangerous and people would be breaking numerous laws if they followed it.

[greedo]

I'm pretty sure this would qualify as fraud in most jurisdictions.

[ryanlol]

Why? You aren't deceiving anyone for a benefit, nor are you causing any injury.

[deogeo]

Dig up the personal information of their owners, board members, and major shareholders, and publish or sell it - an eye for an eye.

[ryanlol]

Well, they were specifically posting a branded Accurint report for Krebs in the lampeduza (IIRC) thread.

[staticautomatic]

Those vendors' reports cost $10-$20 and contain no medical records.

[Breza]

I'm currently working on a batch of information requests about myself to different data brokers and alternative credit reporting firms. I send a copy of my drivers license and a recent utility bill and they send me my records for free. It's shocking what I found the last time I did this.

[chisleu]

Who do you mean by "his"?

Also, Krebs is a hell of a guy.

[yardie]

> Vovnenko first came onto my radar after his alter ego Fly published a blog entry that led with an image of my bloodied, severed head and included my credit report, copies of identification documents, pictures of our front door, information about family members, and so on.