Catalina Conservancy Divers donors are warned
Technorati Tag: Security Breach
Date Reported:
3/14/08
Organization:
Catalina Conservancy Divers
Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
None
Victims:
Donors
Number Affected:
816
Types of Data:
Donor information including credit card numbers, expiration dates and possibly CVV2 codes.
Breach Description:
"Hammonds, 36, was able to obtain the names and credit card numbers of hundreds of victims when they made online donations to the Catalina Conservancy Divers site he was hired to develop in 2005, police said. He then used the information he obtained through the site, www.ccd.org, to make online purchases and pay for personal items."
Reference URL:
The Newport Beach Police Department News Release
The Daily Pilot
The Orange County Register
Report Credit:
Joseph Sema, The Daily Pilot
Response:
From the online sources cited above:
On February 13, 2008, Newport Beach Police Detectives arrested Trevor Hammonds for 484G PC – Illegal Use of a Credit Card. Detectives had learned that Hammonds was renting an apartment in Newport Beach through fraudulent means. He was paying his rent by providing valid credit card account numbers of unsuspecting victims as payment. Since his arrest, Detectives have been attempting to discover where and how Hammonds obtained his victim’s personal credit information.
Detectives recently discovered that Hammonds had created a website for the “Catalina Conservancy Divers” Avalon Harbor Cleanup, www.catalinaconservancy.org in 2005. Through 2005 and 2006, Hammonds was able to obtain unsuspecting victim’s names and credit card numbers when they made online donations to the Conservancy.
Since that time, he has been using victim’s names and valid credit card account information to make online purchases and pay for personal items. Detectives have identified a total of 816 possible victim credit profiles in the possession of Hammonds.
In 2005, the Catalina Conservancy group did not have a website capable of receiving electronic donations, conservancy spokeswoman Leslie Baer said. Many of its loosely organized support groups, such as the Catalina Conservancy Divers that would clean up Avalon Harbor, set up their own websites to accept donations.
Hammonds is currently being housed at the Orange County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail. The Catalina Conservancy Divers is a victim of Hammonds scheme and is not involved in any manner.
If you registered to this site and/or made an online donation to the Catalina Conservancy Divers during 2005 or 2006, please check your credit profile and account records.
The Catalina Conservancy Divers no longer accepts online donations
[Evan] This is sad not only for the individual victims, but Catalina Conservancy also. Online donations should be a viable option for the organization.
If you believe you have been the victim of a crime, please notify your bank immediately to close your account(s) and prevent any further crimes from occurring.
In addition, contact the Newport Beach Police Department in order to report your crime. This can be done by contacting Investigator Bob Watts at (800) 550-NBPD or .
Commentary:
I am impressed with how the Newport Beach Police Department has handled this investigation, at least from what I read. I very much like Sergeant Evan Sailor's remarks to the press and the decision to publish a public press release.
Employee fraud can be a very difficult crime to protect against and pose a very high risk to organizations. As long as we have bad apples in the bushel, we will have a certain amount of fraud. Not that we should throw up our hands and give up though! This article "Eight Tips to Prevent Employee Theft and Fraud" is a pretty good read.
Past Breaches:
Unknown
Date Reported:3/14/08
Organization:
Catalina Conservancy Divers
Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
None
Victims:
Donors
Number Affected:
816
Types of Data:
Donor information including credit card numbers, expiration dates and possibly CVV2 codes.
Breach Description:
"Hammonds, 36, was able to obtain the names and credit card numbers of hundreds of victims when they made online donations to the Catalina Conservancy Divers site he was hired to develop in 2005, police said. He then used the information he obtained through the site, www.ccd.org, to make online purchases and pay for personal items."
Reference URL:
The Newport Beach Police Department News Release
The Daily Pilot
The Orange County Register
Report Credit:
Joseph Sema, The Daily Pilot
Response:
From the online sources cited above:
On February 13, 2008, Newport Beach Police Detectives arrested Trevor Hammonds for 484G PC – Illegal Use of a Credit Card. Detectives had learned that Hammonds was renting an apartment in Newport Beach through fraudulent means. He was paying his rent by providing valid credit card account numbers of unsuspecting victims as payment. Since his arrest, Detectives have been attempting to discover where and how Hammonds obtained his victim’s personal credit information.
Detectives recently discovered that Hammonds had created a website for the “Catalina Conservancy Divers” Avalon Harbor Cleanup, www.catalinaconservancy.org in 2005. Through 2005 and 2006, Hammonds was able to obtain unsuspecting victim’s names and credit card numbers when they made online donations to the Conservancy.
Since that time, he has been using victim’s names and valid credit card account information to make online purchases and pay for personal items. Detectives have identified a total of 816 possible victim credit profiles in the possession of Hammonds.
In 2005, the Catalina Conservancy group did not have a website capable of receiving electronic donations, conservancy spokeswoman Leslie Baer said. Many of its loosely organized support groups, such as the Catalina Conservancy Divers that would clean up Avalon Harbor, set up their own websites to accept donations.
Hammonds is currently being housed at the Orange County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail. The Catalina Conservancy Divers is a victim of Hammonds scheme and is not involved in any manner.
If you registered to this site and/or made an online donation to the Catalina Conservancy Divers during 2005 or 2006, please check your credit profile and account records.
The Catalina Conservancy Divers no longer accepts online donations
[Evan] This is sad not only for the individual victims, but Catalina Conservancy also. Online donations should be a viable option for the organization.
If you believe you have been the victim of a crime, please notify your bank immediately to close your account(s) and prevent any further crimes from occurring.
In addition, contact the Newport Beach Police Department in order to report your crime. This can be done by contacting Investigator Bob Watts at (800) 550-NBPD or .
Commentary:
I am impressed with how the Newport Beach Police Department has handled this investigation, at least from what I read. I very much like Sergeant Evan Sailor's remarks to the press and the decision to publish a public press release.
Employee fraud can be a very difficult crime to protect against and pose a very high risk to organizations. As long as we have bad apples in the bushel, we will have a certain amount of fraud. Not that we should throw up our hands and give up though! This article "Eight Tips to Prevent Employee Theft and Fraud" is a pretty good read.
Past Breaches:
Unknown
Posted by Evan Francen at 3/17/2008 12:57 PM 
Categories: Employee Fraud, Catalina Conservancy Divers
Categories: Employee Fraud, Catalina Conservancy Divers
Posts Atom 1.0
This breach actually occurred on www.ccd.org during 2004.2005. This Diver's club website no longer accepts online donations. Donations are accepted only through www.catalinaconservancy.org, a secure site which was never affiliated with www.ccd.org.
Reply to this