IDENTITY THEFT BY METH HACKS

I guess I've been in the dark about the growing problems of meth addiction in the U.S. Now it's reached point where meth addicts are phishing and hacking into people's identity to get credit card numbers and other items to sell for money to satisfy their addiction. I guess we should all be more careful and watchful of suspicious activity on our credit cards.

Methamphetamine addicts are using the Internet to commit identity theft, law-enforcement officials and medical experts in the USA and Canada say.

Meth is a highly addictive, cheap alternative to cocaine and heroin. Meth addicts - already adept at stealing personal information from mailboxes to finance drug habits - now are hacking PCs to steal information, says Bob Gauthier, a detective in the Edmonton, Alberta, Police Service's meth project team.

In the USA, the problem is increasing "in complexity and size" in the West and Midwest, says Robert Brown, agent-in-charge of the Colorado Bureau of Investigation. He says meth addicts also are participating in phishing e-mail scams and selling stolen goods on auction sites. Many are employed by ID theft rings run by non-drug users, he says. (Story: Counties say meth is top drug threat (July 5))

Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., has introduced a bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee that asks the Justice Department to investigate a link between ID theft and meth use. "The meth epidemic is creating a wave of identity theft," she says. Among recent cases: (full article)