Claims extracted
23
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
9%
2 of 23 hedged
("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
59/100
The Independent's corrections and
hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
The FBI has launched an investigation into the theft of millions of stolen Americans' and Canadians’ driver’s licenses.
asserted
FBI → launch → licenses
The new probe was announced as Brian Krebs, a former Washington Post reporter with a background in cybersecurity, exposed a dark web service called Nexus that was allegedly selling digital scans of more than 153 million driver’s licenses, mostly from people in the U.S., but also many in Canada.
uncertain
that → announce → Canada
“Based on interviews with individuals whose licenses are available for purchase on this service, it appears to be siphoning images collected by a widely-used identity verification company based in Louisiana,” Krebs wrote in his blog “Krebs on Security” last Tuesday.
asserted
Krebs → base → Security
Krebs started digging into the matter after a source tipped him off last Monday.
asserted
source → start → him
Nexus had advertised their service on the Russian cybercrime forum Exploit, offering Krebs’ Virginia driver’s license as a free sample, the independent journalist reported.
asserted
journalist → advertise → sample
Those behind Nexus claimed the stolen license images come from an active breach at “a major identity verification company,” which Krebs traced back to New Orleans-based IDScan.net.
asserted
Krebs → claim → IDScan.net
Out of more than a dozen relatives and friends that Krebs asked permission to search their licenses on Nexus, nine were found and each of those nine had traveled on or very close to the dates in the timestamps attached to their photos.
asserted
each → ask → photos
Krebs then discovered a commonality among some of those travelers — they rented vehicles from Hertz, including Krebs himself.
asserted
they → discover → Krebs
The journalist also found the driver’s license of Zach Edwards, a security and privacy researcher, on Nexus.
asserted
journalist → find → Nexus
Edwards said the timestamp on his record was taken during a trip to Las Vegas last month.
asserted
timestamp → say → Vegas
During the trip, he said he went to the marijuana dispensary Planet13, where his ID was scanned.
asserted
ID → say → dispensary
Krebs found the link between Hertz and Planet13 — they have both been customers of identity verification provider IDScan.net.
asserted
they → find → IDScan.net
The identity firm says it performs more than 21 million verifications monthly at more than 20,000 international locations.
asserted
it → say → locations
IDScan.net has confirmed to Krebs that it was investigating the matter.
asserted
it → confirm → matter
“At this point I’m not able to share any additional information, but the updates you have provided have been welcome, and helpful to our team’s investigation,” Jillian Kossman, a marketing and operations leader at IDScan.net, told Krebs.
asserted
Kossman → ’m → Krebs
The Independent has reached out to Hertz and IDScan.net for comment.
asserted
Independent → reach → comment
Krebs first reported that the FBI’s New Orleans field office launched an official inquiry into the source of the stolen ID images.
asserted
office → report → images
“During the course of my research for this story, word got around to the FBI that I was poking at the apparent source of this new identity theft service’s data.
asserted
I → get → data
Probably they were tipped off when I shared with a trusted source that Nexus also is selling the drivers license information for the assistant director of the FBI,” Krebs said.
asserted
Krebs → tip → FBI
It’s unclear which assistant director Krebs was referring to.
uncertain
Krebs → ’ → director
“Earlier this afternoon, I was added to a conference call with a half-dozen FBI agents, including senior leaders from the agency’s cyber division,” Krebs said in his September 1 report.
asserted
Krebs → add → report
“During that call, the FBI shared that earlier today their New Orleans field office opened an official investigation into an apparent breach involving idscan.net.”
asserted
office → share → idscan.net
In an update, Krebs said Nexus vanished from the dark web shortly after he published the report.
asserted
he → say → report
The Aporia
