NEW YORK – Finally Experian, Ford Motor Company and other credit reporting bureaus may have their chance at prosecuting those behind what is being called the largest identity theft scheme in U.S. history. Three men have been charged with allegedly stealing credit information from more than 30,000 victims resulting in initial losses estimated at $2.7 million and growing. Earlier this year, more than 15,000 credit reports were stolen using passwords belonging to Ford Motor Credit Corp. to access information from Experian and other credit reporting bureaus. According to authorities, Philip Cummings, a help-desk worker at a computer software company, allegedly sold the passwords and codes for downloading consumer credit reports and was paid $30 for each report. The Associated Press reports that the information was made available to at least 20 individuals who then also proceeded to make money off the scheme. The FBI also charged Linus Baptiste for allegedly downloading hundreds of credit reports and Hakeem Mohammed, who has already pled guilty to mail fraud for making changes to individual credit accounts.

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