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Location : Ether-Sphere Job/hobbies : Irrationality Exterminator Humor : Über Serious
| Subject: Funny: Cheating E-Trade, Schwab in 'penny-pinching' scheme Thu May 29, 2008 12:04 am | |
| A California man may have figured out a novel way to make money at home with little effort, but the alleged penny-pinching scheme may land him in jail.
Michael Largent, of Plumas Lake, has been indicted on nine counts of fraud for allegedly creating thousands of accounts creating a script to open up more than 58,000 online brokerage accounts at E-Trade and Schwab.com using bogus information and aliases, including cartoon characters, Wired.com reported on Tuesday..
As is customary when new accounts are linked to bank accounts, the brokerages sent "micro-deposits"--anywhere from 1 cent to $2--to verify that the bank account number and routing data were accurate, which totaled about $50,000, according to the indictment. He then allegedly transferred the money to pre-paid debit cards.
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The brokerages became aware of the situation when they had to verify the identity of the account holders as required under the USA Patriot Act.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9954212-7.html |
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