ID Theft -- Courtesy of the FAA

I've just received a "past due" invoice for the purchase of 250
gallons of Jet A from an FBO a thousand miles away on 20 May. The
invoice includes my name and address and the N-number of my airplane.
The trouble is: I'm not a jet pilot; haven't been to that city in
thirty years; the airplane with that N-number is still a-building in
my garage and it won't burn kerosene when it flies, anyway.

There's only one way my name, address and reserved N-number could have
been obtained by whoever used them: he got them from the FAA website
by doing a search of the reserved N-number database. To my horror, I
found that information in less than a minute after going to the site.
The database of active N-numbers is equally easy to search.

If this guy is smart he got the names/addresses/tail-numbers for a
dozen or more people, got a dozen or more bogus credit cards and is
using each one just once at self-service pumps to avoid creating a
paper-trail that can be followed. His use of jet fuel is one thing
that will save me from having to pay for his travels. If he'd bought
100LL I might very well have been stuck for the tab; the FBO might
have argued that I'd used the not-yet-airborne tail-number to bolster
a fraudulent claim of identity theft after actually fueling a flyable
aircraft.

Leave it to the braintrust at the FAA to provide such great service to
ID thieves. Better yet, DON"T leave it to them. Write to the FAA
right now and tell them specifically that you want your address
removed from *all* their public-access databases:

Department of Transportation
Federal Aviation Administration
Airmen Certification Branch, AFS-760
P.O. Box 25082
Oklahoma City OK 73125-0082

And if something like this happens to you:

- Notify one of the three credit-reporting services (they'll notify
the other two and all three will place an initial fraud alert on your
dossier, requiring creditors to contact you before extending credit in
your name for the next 90 days)

- Notify your local police (procedures vary among jurisdictions, but
if you get the runaround contact your state police)

- File an identity theft report with the Federal Trade Commission
via their website (you'll need to do the steps above first)

- Use the FTC report and the police report to get a seven-year fraud
alert attached to your files at the three credit-reporting companies.

In addition to writing to the FAA I've done the first step above (as
well as contacting that FBO; ATC records of arrivals and departures of
jets and turboprops can be checked against the time of the transaction
to narrow the list of suspect aircraft -- then the FBI may be brought
in). Monday I'll do the other steps. What the hell, I've got nothing
better to do. I mean, it's not as if the FAA can be expected to do
anything as trivial as safeguarding anybody's personal data; we'll
have to cough up a special user-fee for that ...

On Sat, 30 Jun 2007 20:26:11 -0700, quietguy wrote:

I've just received a "past due" invoice for the purchase of 250
gallons of Jet A from an FBO a thousand miles away on 20 May.

I'm unclear as to how someone could pull this off.

Are you saying they used your info to apply for a credit card in your name?

If so, how could the card have been sent to any other address other than
the billing address? Did you get a bill from a credit card company?

It sounds like you're saying this was paper invoice from the FBO mailed to
your address. Why would an FBO sell on credit to someone that didn't have
an account with them?

I'm confused.
--
Dallas

On Jul 1, 12:21 am, Dallas wrote:
I'm confused.

*You're* confused? Imagine *my* state of mind. This was indeed a
paper invoice from the FBO. Only underlings were on duty late on a
Saturday afternoon; higher-level people will contact me, probably on
Monday, and I'll add a follow-up under this same topic as soon as I
know more. But it seems that this was done via a self-serve pump with
no employee oversight. Watch this thread for further details.

As for sending a credit card to an address other than mine, the
scammer probably used "his" (my) personal address for the address of
record on a card (and bills) to be sent elsewhere (e.g., to a
fictitious company address at a P.O. box); there are credit-card
companies that will do that. Again, I'll post any and all details
here when I get them. The point of this initial post was to alert
people to their vulnerability to ID theft thanks to our wonderful
public servants at the FAA ...

On Jun 30, 9:39 pm, quietguy wrote:
On Jul 1, 12:21 am, Dallas wrote:

I'm confused.

*You're* confused? Imagine *my* state of mind. This was indeed a
paper invoice from the FBO. Only underlings were on duty late on a
Saturday afternoon; higher-level people will contact me, probably on
Monday, and I'll add a follow-up under this same topic as soon as I
know more. But it seems that this was done via a self-serve pump with
no employee oversight. Watch this thread for further details.

As for sending a credit card to an address other than mine, the
scammer probably used "his" (my) personal address for the address of
record on a card (and bills) to be sent elsewhere (e.g., to a
fictitious company address at a P.O. box); there are credit-card
companies that will do that. Again, I'll post any and all details
here when I get them. The point of this initial post was to alert
people to their vulnerability to ID theft thanks to our wonderful
public servants at the FAA ...

I understand you being ****ed off, but you can't pin this on the FAA.
If someone really wanted your address/phone number/tail number, they
could easily get it from a non-FAA source.

I know for a fact that when you apply for a credit card, you have to
supply them with your social security number. If the name on the card
doesn't match the SS given, they'll reject it. This person HAD to get
your SS in some way, and theres no way they could have gotten your SS
from a FAA source.

I suggest you direct your anger in a more constructive direction.

quietguy wrote:

I've just received a "past due" invoice for the purchase of 250
gallons of Jet A from an FBO a thousand miles away on 20 May. The
invoice includes my name and address and the N-number of my airplane.

You sure the FBO didn't simply mix up the N number in their records, and
are chasing the wrong person as a result?

Maybe it was the FBO itself trying to earn another buck.
Lou

buttman wrote:


I understand you being ****ed off, but you can't pin this on the FAA.
If someone really wanted your address/phone number/tail number, they
could easily get it from a non-FAA source.

What ever happened to blaming the freaking theif who perpetrated the
crime?

In a previous article, buttman said:
I know for a fact that when you apply for a credit card, you have to
supply them with your social security number. If the name on the card
doesn't match the SS given, they'll reject it. This person HAD to get
your SS in some way, and theres no way they could have gotten your SS
from a FAA source.

And if your pilot license number is still your SS number like it is for
most pilots?


--
Paul Tomblin http://blog.xcski.com/
"Guns don't shoot people. Vice Presidents shoot people."

On 2007-06-30 20:26:11 -0700, quietguy said:

His use of jet fuel is one thing
that will save me from having to pay for his travels. If he'd bought
100LL I might very well have been stuck for the tab; the FBO might
have argued that I'd used the not-yet-airborne tail-number to bolster
a fraudulent claim of identity theft after actually fueling a flyable
aircraft.

Pure nonsense. Federal laws limit your liability with stolen cards and
you have no liability at all for a fraudulent card. Peter cannot
collude with Paul to sell Paul 100 gallons of avgas (or anything else)
and make you pay for it. This is a fundamental point of common law -- a
third party cannot be bound by a contract between two other parties.

If the FBO pursued its claim against you, you would be able to sue them
for defamation, claim damages for fraud, and possibly press criminal
charges for conspiracy to defraud you.


--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

On Jul 1, 3:14 am, buttman wrote:
If someone really wanted your address/phone number/tail number, they
could easily get it from a non-FAA source.

I know for a fact that when you apply for a credit card, you have to
supply them with your social security number. If the name on the card
doesn't match the SS given, they'll reject it. This person HAD to get
your SS in some way, and theres no way they could have gotten your SS
from a FAA source.

I suggest you direct your anger in a more constructive direction.

One of the first things I found out when I started looking into what
to do was that not all credit-card sources require the SSAN. And I
*am* ****ed off at the thief and will do everything I can to help nab
him. As I've already stated, my OP was intended as a "heads-up" about
the danger of allowing the Feds to post one's personal data on the
Internet. Isn't that constructive?