A US citizen has been charged with illegally misusing a background check service intended for police work, leading to victims being doxxed or publicly outed and targeted by fraudsters online.
A district court in New Jersey issued an arrest warrant for Chouby Charleron, of Baltimore, Maryland, known as “The Real Jewt King” on the internet, after a complaint was filed against him on January 22nd.
The case was shared on X, aka Twitter, by cybersecurity watchdog vx-underground, which cited Court Watch for bringing it to light.
Charleron is accused of sharing details about people obtained by his “TLO service” with fraudsters. TLO is normally a legal service offered to police officers, debt collectors, and employers who want to know as much about an individual’s background as possible.
In this case, Charleron’s alleged illicit service appears to have benefited crooks as well, resulting in doxxing and social engineering campaigns used for fraud and extortion.
“Doxxing you for 25 bucks” is how Court Watch, a volunteer-supported website that tracks criminal cases, describes his alleged enterprise.
“The tools, which are often automated, take their name from the powerful TLOxp data service owned by credit bureau TransUnion, which debt collectors, law enforcement, and other sectors are able to access,” said Court Watch.
“Although these services don’t always necessarily source their data from TLOxp itself, in this case Charleron’s co-conspirators allegedly used the obtained data to carry out credit card fraud,” it added.
Court Watch further claims that such services are “advertised to groups of violent criminals that hack, rob, and steal from one another and outside victims.”
It added: “Targets have included YouTubers, high profile celebrities, politicians, and seemingly ordinary people.”
Charleron is accused of having run the service, and abused it, between 2020 and 2023 under a group chat called “TLO LOOK UPS.” The online group enjoyed nearly 800 members, according to court records cited by Court Watch.
A crook would send Charleron the name and address of a target along with a payment of $25 in Bitcoin or through a mobile phone payment app, it claims.
In return for this Charleron would allegedly share personally identifying information (PII) with the client, who would then use it to attempt to defraud victims by activating credit cards in their name.
“In at least one case, the fraudster was successful by using the PII to trick the victim’s bank in a phone call,” said Court Watch, citing court documents. “They went on to make various unauthorized charges at retail locations in New Jersey.”
If apprehended, tried, and found guilty, Charleron faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to quarter of a million dollars.
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