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Library Computers Used in
New York Cyberscam Case

A Brooklyn man, arrested in February by the New York Police Department, allegedly used a public-access computer in the Brooklyn Heights branch of the Brooklyn Public Library to steal millions of dollars from the bank, brokerage, or credit accounts of such rich celebrities as talk-show host Oprah Winfrey, Disney’s Michael Eisner, and Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen.

Abraham Abdallah, 31, was charged March 20 with criminal possession of forged devices, stolen property, scheming to defraud, and criminal impersonation. According to the March 21 New York Times, police are investigating how Abdallah obtained the Social Security numbers, birth dates, and mothers’ maiden names of some 217 individuals on the list of the richest people in America in last fall’s Forbes magazine.

Brooklyn Public Library spokesperson Valerie Geiss told American Libraries she could not confirm which branch of the library, if any, had been used by the suspect.

Posted March 26, 2001.

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