An insider is to blame for the rash of ID scams at the University of California, Irvine, after one hundred and sixty-three students who were enrolled in the University's Graduate Student Health Insurance Program each reported cases of blatant identity theft.
Insider to blamed and arrested for ID fraud at UCI worked for UHC. (IMG:uci.edu)
University of California, Irvine (UCI), police, and IT staffers have since tracked the scam to Minnesota-based United Healthcare, the largest health care service provider in the United States.
During the investigation, which lasted several months, police and IT tracked the crimes back to United Healthcare, which carries the graduate student health-insurance program for UCI.
The university became aware of the identity theft in March when students first began reporting the problem, which involved some students attempting to file their federal tax returns, only to be informed by the IRS that a return sporting their Social Security number had already been submitted.
UCI detectives are still working the case and they anticipate additional arrest warrants will be issued. The IRS is also investigating the case from a tax fraud aspect.
So who was the insider? That would be Michael Tyrone Thomas (27) who was taken into custody at his Fort Worth residence on July 08. Thomas was arrested based on one count of fraudulent use of identifying information in conjunction with the identity thefts involving UCI graduate and medical students. He was booked into Dallas County Texas Jail with bail set at $300,000 USD.
Thomas allegedly stole the information while he was employed at Student Resources, and he subsequently used some of it to file fraudulent student income tax returns and obtain refund checks. With the high volume of federal economic stimulus checks being mailed out, scammers are taking full advantage of the free money.
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