Suspected ID thief exposed by food porn on Instagram
Investigators say that a man accused of being in illegal possession of 50,000 IDs was caught after they found an image he took of a steak and macaroni and cheese meal on Instagram.
Those who steal your identity digitally are not nice people.
On the other hand, they are still people. Which often means that -- somewhere -- they have online enthusiasms which still take them over and reveal their own identities to the outside world.
IRS investigators say that a predilection for food porn created a digital footprint for a suspect whom they were trying to trace.
As Florida's Sun-Sentinel reports, the investigators were in pursuit of a man who was said to have 700,000 stolen IDs available for sale.
It seems that he was quite good at keeping his own identity secret. The most that was known was that he went by the name "Troy," was dating a woman called Tiwanna Tenise Thomason and lived in Harlem.
The IRS had an undercover witness working on their behalf, who arranged a couple of meetings with the alleged Troy.
At the second meeting, he obtained a flash drive. Sadly, it only had 50 IDs on it, but it did have information linking it to the name "Troy Maye."
This morsel seems to have provided enough of an amuse bouche.
Just like a lover seeking a date online, the agents tried to see if there were any socially networked profiles in that name.
Their cup ranneth over when they spotted an Instagram profile in the name "TROYMAYE."
Their digestive systems leaped, though, when they discovered that he had allegedly posted a piece of food porn -- the steak and macaroni and cheese meal he had allegedly enjoyed with the witness at their meeting in the Morton's restaurant.
There are those who simply cannot resist posting images of the glorious food they eat for all to see and salivate at.
But some might imagine that if you're involved in a nefarious activity, posting images of the accompanying plates might be inviting hungry (or even angry) eyes.
Nathaniel Troy Maye, 44, of Harlem, N.Y., and Tiwanna Tenise Thomason, 39, were both arrested and charged with being in possession of a mere 50,000 stolen IDs, authorities said.
On Friday, they pleaded guilty to aggravated identity theft and possession of unauthorized access devices.
Maye's Instagram profile is now set to private. However, there still remains a caption: "Good things will come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle!"
His attempts to hustle now mean that he could face many years in jail.
The food isn't so good there, I hear.