Sports Gambling Site Just One of Many Examples of ID Theft

One of the largest sports gambling websites is in hot water this week as its founder has been charged with 20 counts in federal court, including conspiracy and wire fraud related to illegal online gambling. But the site’s troubles don’t end there. BetOnSports.com was also recently the target of a large identity theft scam.  In a very rare instance of identity theft prosecution, the leader of a large and sophisticated ID theft ring pled guilty to charges of fraud last week.  Lanre Elekede, 32, admitted he stole identities of customers from the betting giant BetOnSports.com and used the information to purchase large quantities of calling cards. It is unclear how Elekede obtained the customer information. As the number of identity theft victims continues to increase, those responsible for these crimes remain in the shadows and out of prison.  Government agencies have poured millions of dollars into monitoring identity theft hotspots, keeping an eye on the chat rooms, blogs and websites where these nefarious criminals buy, sell and share credit card numbers.  But a large volume of online fraud happens nowhere near the government’s radar.  Criminals may obtain personal information by hacking or "phishing," a scheme in which victims are duped into submitting social security information and credit card numbers to a website or an e-mail message. These scams are rarely caught, stopped or reported.  According to Beth Givens, Director at the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, less than five percent of identity thefts are ever investigated.  Criminals show little fear of being caught and even less concern about being brought to justice.  Jay Foley, Executive Director of the Identity Theft Resource Center, says that punishments for these offenses are meager. "These criminals never get a sentence worth the true value of their crime." But the same failures that pervade the world of identity theft are still obvious here.  Poor communication between businesses, consumers and law enforcement is the norm.  When ABC News contacted BetOnSports.com for comment, they had no knowledge of this security breach.  They are now looking into it. Elekede will now spend more time behind bars than behind a computer screen; his maximum sentence is five years.