Crooks raid US mega database

A FIRM managing a huge US database handed over personal details of more than 30,000 people to criminals posing as legitimate businesses, according to a report. ChoicePoint, which has data on virtually every US citizen, handed over names, addresses, Social Security numbers, credit reports and other information in what is being considered a 'low tech' fraud. The outfit aggregates and sells such personal information to government agencies and private companies. According to MSN, the company has written to 30,000 people in California telling them to check their credit history to see if they have been the victims of ID theft. The letter said that several individuals, posing as legitimate business customers, recently committed fraud by claiming to have a lawful purpose for accessing information about individuals. It is not clear how the criminals managed to successfully pose as ChoicePoint clients. It seems that they have gotten away with the fraud so far. [via HardFeed] The outfit told MSN that it had tightened up its procedures, but one of the biggest worries is that the leak may have gone further. US Californian state law the company has only to notify the Californian residents of any data leak and not anyone else.