Financial info on celebs, officials leaked online

 
No Author Published: March 12, 2013    Comment on this article Leave a comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Authorities and celebrities were grappling with how to respond to a website that posted what appears to be private financial information about top government officials and stars such as Jay-Z and Mel Gibson.

photo - FILE - In this Feb. 12, 2013 photo, Beyonce Knowles attends the premiere of "Beyonce: Life Is But A Dream" at the Ziegfeld Theatre, in New York. Knowles is among 11 celebrities and government officials whose private financial information appears to have been posted online by a site that began garnering attention on Monday, March 11, 2013. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - In this Feb. 12, 2013 photo, Beyonce Knowles attends the premiere of "Beyonce: Life Is But A Dream" at the Ziegfeld Theatre, in New York. Knowles is among 11 celebrities and government officials whose private financial information appears to have been posted online by a site that began garnering attention on Monday, March 11, 2013. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

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The Justice Department said Monday the FBI was investigating how the Social Security number, address and a credit report of FBI Director Robert Mueller ended up on the site. The site also posted the same information about Los Angeles Police Chief Charlie Beck, and the department said it was investigating the matter.

In addition to Jay-Z and Gibson, other targeted stars included Beyonce, Ashton Kutcher, Kim Kardashian and Paris Hilton. Info posted about Vice President Joe Biden and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton did not include credit reports but included addresses and other sensitive information.

Social Security numbers posted on Jay-Z, Gibson and others matched records in public databases.

The site, which bears an Internet suffix originally assigned to the Soviet Union, expanded throughout the day Monday to add entries on Britney Spears, former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin and others.

The site did not state how the information was obtained or why the people targeted on the site were selected, describing the records only as "secret files." A Twitter profile linked to the site and created after its existence was first reported by celebrity website TMZ included an anti-police message in Russian.

Several of the purported credit reports appear to have been generated last week.

Representatives of those targeted either declined to comment on the accuracy of the information that was posted, or they did not return messages seeking comment.

Los Angeles police Cmdr. Andrew Smith said the LAPD was investigating the posting of Beck's information and would also investigate the posting of info on any celebrities who live in the city and request an inquiry.

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