Impostor Poses as Secret Service Agent and Police Officer
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Expert
A bunch of us recently celebrated a 40th birthday of a friend. The conversation at one point revolved around my ATM scam and how easy it is to con people. A new boyfriend of a friend began to tell everyone how he often cons people to get in bars and clubs. “I NEVER wait in lines” he said, “and I always get VIP treatment”. I hate lines too, but I have a hard time lying to get what I want. Anyway the guy is 6 foot 8 inches, which in many ways is a handicap in our 5-6 foot society. But his height definitely commands attention.
What he does is he finds the phone number of the bar or club and calls ahead of time. He claims he is a manager of a Boston Celtics player and he is coming to the bar with a few people and his player will be coming later. He gets a name of the club manager and someone from security. When he arrives he goes to the velvet ropes and drops the managers/security names and acts as if he is entitled to entry. He said his success rate is 100%.
I believe him. When a decent looking affluent couple can breach the Whitehouse and gain entry to a formal party, protected by the Secret Service, then almost anything is possible. People pose as others every day of the week as demonstrated by this ethical hacker here and these TSA identity thieves here.
Posing as a health inspector, police officer or even a Secret Service agent is probably done every single day with success. I once posed as a “water inspector” and gained access to peoples homes by saying I needed to “check the colorization of their water”, as I demonstrated on The Montel Williams Show here. A fake badge and a uniform of any kind can do wonders.
The AP reports a man accused of posing as a U.S. Secret Service agent and entering the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, passed himself off as a Massachusetts police officer to enter a U2 concert last year.
Authorities say he flashed what appeared to be a gold Massachusetts State Police badge and entered Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., on Sept. 21. They say he didn’t have a ticket to the concert.
He repeatedly asked to see the fire chief and where the ambulances were parked. When he refused to identify himself, stadium security called police, who then arrested him.
People can easily pose as you online or in person to commit financial identity theft as it relates to new account fraud, account takeover and commit social media identity too. This is why getting a credit freeze and identity theft protection is essential. Because until we are properly identified and systems are in place that point towards effective authentication and identification which leads to accountability, then identity theft and being an imposter will flourish.
- Get a credit freeze. Go to ConsumersUnion.org and follow the steps for your particular state. This is an absolutely necessary tool to secure your credit. In most cases, it prevents new accounts from being opened in your name. This makes your Social Security number useless to a potential identity thief. Invest is a social media identity theft protection toll such as Knowem.com.
- Invest in Intelius identity theft protection and prevention. Not all forms of identity theft protection can be prevented, but identity theft protection services can dramatically reduce your risk. (Disclosures)
Robert Siciliano Identity Theft Speaker discussing being an imposter and home invasions on the Montel Williams Show
