NY 'organized crime group' stole 3,000 Texans' identities through dark web, officials say
AUSTIN, Texas – An out-of-state organized crime group obtained thousands of Texas driver's licenses through a vulnerability in a state system by using stolen information it acquired from the dark web, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw testified before a state House subcommittee.
The ongoing investigation into the security lapse has so far revealed that at least 3,000 Texans might have been victims in the identity thefts, which DPS first discovered in late December, officials said. None of the Texans whose information has been compromised had yet been notified as of Monday, according to Jeoff Williams, deputy director of DPS Law Enforcement Services.
A “Chinese organized crime group operating out of New York” targeted Texans of Asian descent to provide undocumented migrants with authentic replacement licenses, McCraw told a House Appropriations subcommittee Monday.
The organized crime group, which officials did not publicly identify Monday, obtained Texans' information through other companies’ data breaches, and no government systems were infiltrated, Williams said. Stolen data and a vulnerable system allowed the group to answer a series of security questions – like a victim's mother's maiden name or the model of their first car – required to set up an account on Texas.gov, the state website residents use to request replacement licenses, Williams said.
“Controls should’ve been in place, and this should’ve never happened,” McCraw said.
Since the security threat was identified, the state removed the option to create an account on Texas.gov by answering only security questions instead of providing the audit number on a driver's license, and it added safety measures to the website's credit card transaction process, Williams said.
As the investigation advances, DPS continues finding Texans whose identities were used by the organized crime group. The agency plans to send letters notifying victims later this week, McCraw said.
“Our criminal investigation that we've been working on in order to find these people and arrest them has been the priority,” Williams said. “We recognize that there's a requirement to notify people, and we want to do that more than anyone.”
Texas is working with federal authorities and is one of four states involved in the criminal investigation, McCraw said.
“Thousands of Texans' identities have been violated and I understand that there are lots of reasons why this happened. But nonetheless, the agency is responsible,” said state Rep. Mary González, an El Paso-area Democrat.
González asked McCraw if the department will consider the identity thefts as hate crimes since Asian Americans were targeted.
McCraw said that Asian Americans were targeted in hopes of finding "look-a-likes" for undocumented immigrants of Asian descent.
“I don't want to minimize the severity of what our Texans are experiencing because of another issue when it comes to migration,” González said.
Arrests have been made in the case, McCraw said, though he didn't publicly identify any one who has been charged with a crime.
“It's difficult to rebuild that trust with the people,” González said. “I just hope that in your process now moving forward, that we are supporting the thousands of Texans through helping them figure out what the next steps are for their identity.”
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This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: At least 3,000 Texans had IDs stolen for driver license, DPS says
