Hieu Minh Ngo Recounts Data Broker Hacks and Identity-Theft Service

Summary

Hieu Minh Ngo recounts hacking data brokers and reselling access to US identities. The interview examines how criminals used the data for tax fraud, his prosecution, and privacy risks associated with data brokers.

Key points

• Ngo says he used SQL injection and other vulnerabilities to access data broker portals and steal customer logins.
• He says he used phishing-delivered malware to obtain an investigator’s documents and impersonate him to open a MicroBilt account.
• Ngo later impersonated another investigator to obtain Court Ventures API access and resell identity searches. He says he sold over three million US identities from 2010 to 2012.
• According to the interview, customers used identity data from his service to file fraudulent tax returns.
• After a Secret Service investigation, Ngo pleaded guilty in 2015 and was sentenced to 13 years; the episode says he was released in 2020.
• The host questions data broker collection and sales practices and argues that customer vetting did not prevent criminal access.

Indicators of compromise

MITRE ATT&CK

Industries

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