Identity thieves have turned to YouTube to advertise their wares, although the video sharing site has been taking down the videos as fast as they appear.
In one video the seller, who never reveals his face, offers full identity dossiers for $25 (£17) a time, or five for $100 (£67).
The dossiers contain the subject's name, address, social security number, driving licence details, sex, mother's name, occupation, age, car licence plate, date of birth and net worth including any real estate and liquid assets.
"It's crazy. I talked to this guy via email and he said he would sell me the details in exchange for a PayPal deposit," said Brian Sullivan, online crime correspondent at news web site MSNBC.
"His ad even had a disclaimer that the information could only be used for marketing purposes, and cannot be used for illegal activity."
Sullivan said that the growing commercialisation of identity theft was down to companies storing too much information on customers. Companies often collect information that has no relevance, and store it for ever, making customers more vulnerable.
YouTube has a strict take-down policy on videos advertising illegal services, and any such sites should be reported immediately.
See also:
Users sharing too much information, warns Sophos 28 Apr 2009
Unisys report finds three-quarters of UK citizens worried about ID theft 20 Apr 2009
Passwords or encryption vital for protecting information 18 Mar 2009
A collection of online annoyances we all could do without 15 Mar 2009
Gartner outlines key identity and access management trends 12 Mar 2009All Enterprise Security Technology Tags: Web, Crime, Msnbc, Youtube, Management, Security
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