Con Man Invasion--Internet Black-Market Flourishing

--Internet black-market bazaar loaded with con-man-produced valuable documents of every kind for sale

Magalia, California--About everything is obtainable--for a price --over the internet.

Up for sale by con men. It started out with simple credit card theft several years ago and has now flowered into just about every form, document, verification number, or identification conveyance imaginable. As the internet expands at a breathtaking pace, so does identity theft right along with it. Now available for purchase are not only credit cards (with verification codes and mother's maiden name), but debit cards (with pin numbers), social security cards, visas, passports, birth certificates, marriage licenses, even death certificates. If one has a criminal turn of mind, just a couple of thousand dollars can buy that person a whole new (stolen) life, according to former Business Opportunities Digest editor / publisher, Jack Payne, who has studied the con man market over the past 45 years.

Business is so brisk that con men even maintain a market in names. Choice names from their victims' lists trade for up to $250--each.

The list of information available on each victim is frightening to many. These data include: names, addresses, phone and fax numbers, email addresses, driver's license numbers, social security numbers, passwords, debit and credit card numbers, other banking information, and a breakdown of buying patterns and net worth /debt status. The invasion is real. It's total. Con men are flooding into this market. Their intent? Theories are up for grabs.

Con man exposers point to the problems of E Bay and My Space as confirmation of this trend.

In some third world countries, such a collapse of privacy protections have signaled anarchy. Big hope, law enforcers believe, is that the U.S. is too advanced a civilized society and that "it can't happen here."

Thriller book author, Jack Payne, ponders the challenge further, "Talk about a tough life. For the average guy and gal in our society it's hard to beat the game. If they earn anything it's minus taxes. If they buy anything it's plus taxes. That's just for starters. Relationships, kids, school, house and car payments, neighborhood crime-- the list of day-to-day obstacles gets pretty grim. In facing all of these problems each day when they first get up, they can only wonder: 'how do I get through this reverse-lottery-win lifestyle; where I win $5 a year for a million years.'

"Nobody wants to cash out their life on this earth with the epitaph on their tombstone: 'I told you I was sick.' Yet, sadly, people keep falling for these scams every day--surrendering their identity, their savings, even their inheritance. Where will it all lead?"