Food Porn Busts ID Thieves On Instagram
As food porn busts ID thieves, a segment of the internet is almost certainly experiencing schadenfreude because so many people are bothered by Instagram food braggarts.
The story of how food porn busts ID thieves involves thousands of alleged stolen identities and the capture of the accused — 44-year-old Nathaniel Troy Maye and 39-year-old Tiwanna Tenise Thomason — after the duo did something fairly innocuous.
It wasn’t a big shopping spree or an active theft that snared the pair — food porn busts the ID thieves in this tale, where Maye and Thomason got popped after posting pics of steak and mac and cheese to Instagram.
Under the user name “TROYMAYE,” the IRS discovered a pic labeled “Morton’s” (a high-end steakhouse chain) showing a steak and mac and cheese dinner — with data coinciding with a meeting at the steakhouse with an IRS informant.
The Smoking Gun dishes on the food porn bust, explaining:
“As detailed in a U.S. District Court complaint filed yesterday, Maye and Thomason, 39, were unaware that their dinner companion was working as a cooperating witness (CW) for the Internal Revenue Service. During the dinner meeting–which was recorded by IRS agents–Maye, Thomason, and the CW discussed an identity theft scheme.”
The site continues:
“Maye also reportedly gave the CW a flash drive containing the names, social security numbers, and dates of birth of 46 individuals whose stolen identities could be used for fraudulent purposes. The CW is a convicted felon who is cooperating with federal investigators in a bid for leniency in connection with a pending tax fraud case.”
The case of Maye and Thomasen and their Instagram related downfall seems to be a reminder of an issue we’ve seen in recent years involving social media.
And as food porn busts ID thieves using the pic-sharing service (pic of the damning steak below), it seems once again people have forgotten that if you’re engaging in something possibly illegal, perhaps keep a low profile on social media sites?
