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Cops: Security Guard Hacked Into GM Personnel Files

Associated Press
Published | Updated

DETROIT – A former security guard at General Motors Corp.'s (GM) Warren technical center is accused of taking employee Social Security numbers and using them to hack into the company's employee vehicle database.

James S. Green II, 35, of Washington Township, found out what company cars the employees drove and sent them bogus e-mails asking them their thoughts on the vehicles, Macomb County sheriff's Capt. Anthony Wickersham said Tuesday.

Green was arraigned Monday on eight counts of obtaining, possessing or transferring personal identity information, one count of using a computer to commit a crime and one count of stalking that was unrelated to the GM cases. He was released after posting 10 percent of a $50,000 bond.

Wickersham said Green obtained the Social Security numbers of about 100 GM employees from the Detroit area and sent them e-mails posing as a representative of GM's company vehicle evaluation program.

"It's frightening to know that this individual had all this personal information on a lot of people," Wickersham said.

There was no telephone listing for Green.

Employees became suspicious because the e-mails came from a Yahoo address. They notified a GM security firm, which in turn told Macomb County deputies, GM spokeswoman Geri Lama said.

The security firm identified Green as a suspect, but deputies couldn't find him at his home, Wickersham said.

They determined that the e-mails were sent from a library in Washington Township and found Green there, at a computer with the employee information, Wickersham said.

Green apparently got the Social Security numbers while working for a private security firm at the tech center, although officials weren't sure exactly how.

All affected workers have been notified. Although there's no evidence Green did anything else with the information, Wickersham said employees should check their credit reports and notify credit card companies to monitor for fraud.

He said officials don't know why Green sent the e-mails.