Jury selection dragged into Monday evening in federal court for the blockbuster trial of two New Orleans personal injury attorneys and another defendant indicted in a massive scheme to stage vehicle crashes into big rig trucks over years.
Inside a packed courtroom, U.S. District Judge Wendy Vitter waded through about 100 prospective jurors, vetting hardship claims and others who flagged personal ties to people involved in the case.
Behind closed doors, she questioned some prospective jurors individually who’d indicated they’d heard or read about the high-profile case.
Wendy Vitter has been nominated by President Donald Trump for a federal judgeship in New Orleans. (Photo by Harry Hamburg, The Associated Press)
But the “voir dire” process of questioning people about their views to arrive at a panel of 12 hadn’t progressed to seating any…
Identity theft is the “foundational” fraud upon which many other crimes are built. It involves the unauthorized acquisition and use of a person’s personal identifying information (PII), such as an ID number, Social Security number, or passport details.
- How it works: Fraudsters obtain PII through data breaches, mail theft, or “social engineering” (tricking people into revealing details). Once they have this data, they can open new bank accounts, apply for credit cards or loans, and even receive medical treatment under your name.
- Synthetic Identity Fraud: A sophisticated variation where criminals combine real and fabricated information to create a completely new, “synthetic” person. This is particularly difficult to detect because there is no single victim to report the suspicious activity initially.