Miami Cop Used Police Database to Steal Identities, Get Fake Tax Refunds

In the midst of revelations of NSA's ferreting away loads of personal information and metadata about Americans, those who were apathetic about the whole scandal turned to the typical "I have nothing to hide" argument. I noted why folks should be concerned anyway in a piece a few months ago that was reprinted in our October issue. In short, one reason even the totally innocent should worry about who is collecting their data is because even people in position of authority may have dangerous plans that have nothing to do with their job duties.

Case in point: A Miami officer used a police database to steal the identities of 1,000 people in order to engage in tax fraud. From the Miami Herald:

A Miami cop who stole 1,000 identities from a police database to score fraudulent income-tax refunds was found guilty in federal court Thursday.

Malinsky Bazile, 28, collected about $140,000 from the scam in 2011-12.

Bazile, who joined the Miami Police Department in 2008, was immediately taken into custody while he awaits sentencing.

No, it's not the NSA, but it's an important reminder that we don't have control over which government officials see private information about us, but government officials are no more immune to using that information for corrupt purposes than private hackers.

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Comments

[Invisible Finger]

How will they cheat Obamacare?

[SomeGuy]

there is sufficient over sight to prevent that

[Brandon]

But Facebook and Google are the real dangers.

[Episiarch]

One of the most fucked up things about most people in general is they mindlessly think, for some reason, that when a person goes into "public service", they stop being human and instead turn into some kind of selfless robot. This is partly a factor of propaganda, since statists want you to love the government, and is partly a factor of the way "public servants" talk about themselves. Teachers blather about helping the children, politicians blather about helping the poor or the children, cops blather about putting their lives on the line to keep the streets safe, and so. But the question is, why do people fall for it so easily?

[Tman]

Guess what the wait time is for the IRS to "correct" this issue once you as the victim submit IRS Forms 14039 (ID Theft Affidavit), copy of your SScard, Drivers license, proof of residency and a hard copy of your most recent return (since the IRS will now refuse any electronic submission due to the ID theft issue)?

Speaking from experience it, uh, might be a while.

[Stormy Dragon]

I'm guessing 18 months.

[Flemur]

... we don't have control over which government officials see private information about us ...

Not really. Abolishing the practice of hiring of unqualified minorities to counteract "disparate impact" would be a start.