Online “people finder” sites are a blessing for identity thieves

Investigators say he bought large amounts of personal information on the site, using the data as a foundation to open bank accounts in as many as 51 people’s names. Getting enough personal information to assume a target’s identity doesn’t necessarily require sophisticated hacking skills or the ability to access the so-called Dark Web. Online identity thieves use services that provide personal information for sales leads, real estate transactions, and credit reports to steal millions, gathering details about their victims’ lives from federal, state, and local records sold by brokers like BeenVerified, Instant Checkmate, and TruthFinder.