Police arrest ID thief in Wells Fargo case

Stolen PCs recovered

By John Leyden • Get more from this author

Posted in Security, 27th November 2003 12:57 GMT

Free whitepaper – Securing your Microsoft Internet Information Services (MS IIS) web server

Police have arrested a California man for stealing computers containing the personal information of thousands of Wells Fargo customers.

Edward Jonathan Krastof, 38, of Concord in California, has confessed to stealing a computer containing the sensitive information after breaking into the offices of a financial analyst hired by Wells Fargo, Reuters reports. Krastof also stole another computer and laptop during the same burglary.

Concord Police Sergeant Steve White told Reuters that investigators recovered the computer gear - along with "equipment used for scanning identity cards and cheques" - when they raided Krastof's home.

White described Krastof as a "low-level ID theft kind of guy."

Police traced Krastof after he logged onto his AOL account using one of the stolen computers.

Wells Fargo offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the criminals who stole the machine containing a sensitive customer database. Because Krastof's arrest came through regular police work, and not a tip-oof from members of the public, Wells Fargo will keep this money.

Data on the computer included names, addresses, account and social security numbers for people holding overdrafts or loans with Wells Fargo. ®