Speaker Bios

Opening

Maureen K. Ohlhausen was sworn in as a Commissioner of the Federal Trade 

Commission on April 4, 2012, and was designated to serve as Acting FTC Chairman by President 

Donald Trump in January 2017.

Prior to joining the Commission, Ohlhausen was a partner at Wilkinson Barker Knauer, 

LLP, where she focused on FTC issues, including privacy, data protection, and cybersecurity.

Ohlhausen previously served at the Commission for 11 years, most recently as Director of the 

Office of Policy Planning from 2004 to 2008, where she led the FTC's Internet Access Task Force. 

She was also Deputy Director of that office. From 1998 to 2001, Ohlhausen was an attorney 

advisor for former FTC Commissioner Orson Swindle, advising him on competition and 

consumer protection matters. She started at the FTC General Counsel’s Office in 1997. Before 

coming to the FTC, Ohlhausen spent five years at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, 

serving as a law clerk for Judge David B. Sentelle and as a staff attorney. Ohlhausen also clerked 

for Judge Robert Yock of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims from 1991 to 1992.

Ohlhausen graduated with distinction from Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason 

University in 1991 and graduated with honors from the University of Virginia in 1984.

Ohlhausen was on the adjunct faculty at the Antonin Scalia Law School, George Mason 

University, where she taught privacy law and unfair trade practices. She served as a Senior 

Editor of the Antitrust Law Journal and a member of the American Bar Association Task Force 

on Competition and Public Policy. She has authored a variety of articles on competition law, 

privacy, and technology matters.

Setting the Stage: Identity Theft Today

Keith Anderson is an economist in the Division of Consumer Protection of the Bureau of 

Economics of the Federal Trade Commission. Among other positions in the Bureau, he has 

served as Assistant Director for Regulatory Analysis. He also has served as Senior Economic 

Advisor to the Chairman of the U.S. International Trade Commission. 

Mr. Anderson has been responsible for the three studies of consumer fraud that have 

been conducted by the Federal Trade Commission and is the author of the three reports on 

these surveys. (The most recent publication is Consumer Fraud in the United States, 2011: The 

Third FTC Survey (April 2013, available at 

http://www.ftc.gov/sites/default/files/documents/reports/consumer-fraud-united-states2011-third-ftc-survey/130419fraudsurvey_0.pdf). He was also heavily involved in the 
Identity Theft: Planning for the Future

Commission’s identity theft surveys conducted in 2003 and 2006, and has published papers in 

scholarly journals, including “Agency Discretion or Statutory Direction: Decision Making at the 

U.S. International Trade Commission,” Journal of Law and Economics, October 1993, and “Who 

Are the Victims of Identity Theft,” Journal of Public Policy & Marketing, Fall 2006.

R. Sean McCleskey is the Director of Organizational Education and Measurement at the 

Center for Identity, The University of Texas at Austin. He is also a faculty member in the Master 

of Science, Identity Management and Security Program.

Prior to this position, Sean served as a Special Agent with the United States Secret 

Service, San Antonio Field Office, from 1998 until his retirement in 2015. During his tenure, he 

conducted a variety of investigations to include, but not limited to, the following: counterfeit 

currency, bank fraud, identity theft, credit card abuse, child pornography, narcotics trafficking, 

domestic terrorism and threats to protectees of the United States Secret Service. During his 

tenure with the agency, Sean created and then served as the Group Leader of the South Texas 

Regional Task Force, a multi-agency unit, which was comprised of the United States Secret 

Service, San Antonio Police Department, United States Postal Inspection Service, Homeland 

Security Investigations, Texas Department of Public Safety, IRS-Criminal Investigative Division, 

Bexar County District Attorney’s Office, and the United States Attorney’s Office, Western 

District of Texas. The principal mission of the task force was to investigative organized groups 

who are involved with identity theft, financial and cyber crimes.

He earned two Bachelor of Science Degrees in Political Science and Criminal Justice from 

Texas Christian University and his Juris Doctor from St. Mary’s University School of Law. He was 

admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1998.

Alana Benson is a researcher, writer, and consultant specializing in document fraud. In 

2016 she published her first book, WTF: Where’s the Fraud, focusing on identity fraud and 

theft. She is currently working on a second book targeting documentation and corporate 

identity fraud, which is expected for the spring of 2018. She has also helped produce 

LexisNexis’s daily fraud column, Fraud of the Day. Ms. Benson’s other work has been published 

in BlazeVOX magazine and ScholarWorks. Ms. Benson holds a BA in English and Classical Studies 

with a concentration in Ancient Greek Literature.

Presentation by the Office of Technology Research and Investigation

Dan Salsburg is the Chief Counsel and Acting Chief of the Office of Technology, Research 

and Investigation (OTech) in the Bureau of Consumer Protection (BCP) at the Federal Trade 

Commission. Prior to joining OTech, Dan served as an Assistant Director in BCP, where he 

supervised investigations and cases involving spam, internet fraud, and mobile technologies.

Previously, he served as a Senior Trial Attorney in the Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s 

Division of Enforcement. Dan received his BA and JD degrees from the University of 

Pennsylvania. 
Identity Theft: Planning for the Future

Christina Yeung is a technologist in the FTC’s Office of Technology Research and 

Investigation (OTECH). Christina designs and conducts research concerning emerging issues at 

the intersection of consumer protection and technology. Her previous research includes studies 

of financial technologies, mobile app data collection practices, and connected devices. Prior to 

joining the FTC, Christina worked as a research analyst at a commercial bank. She holds a B.A in 

Economics from Bates College.

The Identity Theft Marketplace

Danny Rogers is the co-founder and CEO of Terbium Labs, an information security and 

data intelligence startup based in Baltimore, Maryland. He is a computational physicist with 

experience supporting Defense and Intelligence Community Cyber Operations, as well as 

startup experience in the defense, energy, and biotechnology sectors. Danny is an author and 

expert in the field of quantum cryptography and has published numerous patents and papers 

on that and other subjects. Prior to co-founding Terbium Labs, Danny managed a portfolio of 

physics and sensor research projects at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics 

Laboratory. He has a Bachelors degree in Math and Physics from Georgetown University and a 

Doctorate in Chemical Physics from the University of Maryland.

Robert Hoback is a 17-year veteran of the United States Secret Service and is currently 

assigned to the Criminal Investigative Division at U.S. Secret Service Headquarters in 

Washington, DC. Mr. Hoback started his career in the New York Field Office investigating 

computer crimes and credit card fraud. Mr. Hoback has served in the Vice Presidential 

Protective Division, Dignitary Protective Division, and most recently as a Spokesperson in the 

Office of Government & Public Affairs before transferring to his current position. Mr. Hoback is 

certified in both Network Intrusion Investigations and Critical Systems Protection.

Impact of Identity Theft: The Big Picture

Ann Patterson is Senior Vice President and Program Director for the Medical Identity 

Fraud Alliance (MIFA). MIFA is a non-profit coalition of healthcare providers, payors and 

business associates working collaboratively to reduce medical identity theft and fraud. Ann 

manages the association’s member programming, such as committees, working groups, 

deliverables, member engagement, and meetings, as well as operational functions and board of 

directors liaison. She is a frequent speaker at industry conferences and is MIFA’s media 

spokesperson.

Prior to MIFA, Ann worked with the banking sector on technology risk management, 

including cybersecurity, fraud and vendor management issues. She also previously held various 

positions at PwC, Ernst & Young and the Department of Defense.

Dr. Christopher Mascaro, VP, Threat Intelligence & Analytics has over 15 year’s 

experience in cyber security and analytics experience across government intelligence, 

consulting and academia. Dr. Mascaro has applied his government experience to the private 
Identity Theft: Planning for the Future

sector by helping Fortune 100 companies build and mature their cyber security programs by 

applying intelligence community best practices. In addition to his industry work, Dr. Mascaro 

has over 30 academic publications in the field of information science and data analytics 

published in ACM and IEEE venues.

Michael Beebe is the Director of Return Integrity and Compliance Services (RICS) in the 

IRS, Wage and Investment Division. Mike oversees the programs responsible for strengthening 

the integrity of the tax system through pre-refund revenue protection and the oversight of 

refundable credits. This includes screening returns for potential fraud and identity theft and 

compliance activities to prevent improper refunds.

Prior to joining RICS, Mike held other leadership positions in the IRS. He served as the

Director of Field Assistance managing nearly 400 Taxpayer Assistance Centers throughout the 

United States. He also served as the Director of Stakeholder Partnerships, Education & 

Communications (SPEC), where he managed the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) and 

Tax Counseling for the Elderly programs. Mike holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political 

Science.

Todd Egaas is currently the IRS Executive Official of the Identity Theft Tax Refund Fraud 

Information Sharing and Analysis Center (IDTTRF-ISAC). The ISAC is a new public-private 

partnership chartered by the IRS to share information and analysis between the IRS, state 

departments of revenue, and the tax software and preparer industries in order to identify and 

reduce identity theft tax fraud.

Todd’s day-job is in IRS Criminal Investigation where he is the Executive Director for 

Technology Operations & Investigative Services. As the director, Todd is responsible for 

developing and maintaining the investigative technologies CI’s Special Agents use to tackle 

financial crimes in the digital age such as big-data analytics and tools to fight cyber-crime. He 

also leads an electronic forensics organization that supports CI’s investigations nationwide.

Prior to working for the IRS, Todd consulted for Deloitte Consulting, LLP to advise the IRS and 

other U.S. Federal sector clients on emerging technology issues. He began his career managing 

and implementing energy pricing and settlement systems for deregulated utilities in the U.S., 

U.K., the Netherlands, and Germany. 

Todd holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from American University 

and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Maryland. He is a certified 

Project Management Professional.

Kenn Kern is the Chief of Staff to the Investigation Division and the Special Assistant for 

International Relations at the New York County District Attorney’s Office. Kenn joined the Office 

in 2004 and initially served in the Trial Division before transferring to the Major Economic 

Crimes Bureau in 2009. There, he co-prosecuted Lawrence Salander and Leigh Morse, an art 

gallery owner and director, respectively, for their decade-long, $120 million Ponzi scheme 

involving the consigned artwork of thirty victims. Salander and Morse were both convicted, by 

plea and trial, respectively, and the case is regarded as the one of the largest art fraud schemes 

in the State’s history.
Identity Theft: Planning for the Future

In 2011, Kenn was appointed Deputy Chief of the Cybercrime and Identity Theft Bureau, 

prosecuting and supervising a wide variety of complex financial, identity theft, and cyber 

frauds. In 2012, Kenn was part of a team that prosecuted an individual for stalking and 

extorting a high-profile public figure as well as committing housing fraud. Following a 2015 jury 

trial, the defendant was convicted of all nine fraud charges against her. In his current role, Kenn 

serves as an Office liaison to multiple international law enforcement agencies and cybersecurity 

organizations, including the City of London Police, the Paris Parquet du Tribual de Grande 

Instance, Europol, Global Cyber Alliance, FS-ISAC, the Financial Services Sector Coordinating 

Council, and the Center for Internet Security. For the last six years, Kenn has coordinated 

DANY’s Financial Crimes and Cybersecurity Symposium.

Kenn is an honors graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, where he served as 

an Assistant to Admiral Bobby I. Inman, former Director of the National Security Agency. Kenn 

served as law clerk to the Honorable Chief Judge Thad Heartfield of the United States District 

Court for the Eastern District of Texas and earned a Master’s degree in Government from 

Georgetown University. Prior to joining the Office, Kenn served at the International Criminal 

Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and worked on the Slobodan Milošević trial.

The Victim’s Perspective

Amy Wang is originally from a small town in northern N.Y. She is an Occupational 

Therapist who traveled the country treating and advocating for patients with disabilities. She is 

also a small business owner in the real estate industry. Amy was the victim of identity fraud and 

currently lives in Miami FL with her husband of 18 years and 3 teenage children. 

Tamera Fine is a career prosecutor who has represented the interests of the United 

States for 26 years, the last 15 as a criminal Assistant United States Attorney in the District of 

Maryland. Before 2002 Ms. Fine served as a civil attorney working for the Tax Division in the 

U.S. Department of Justice and a civil AUSA in Maryland. She graduated from Columbia Law 

School in New York in January, 1988 and worked for several years as an associate in New York 

law firms before joining the Department of Justice. She also holds a Bachelor’s degree in 

Interdisciplinary Studies and a Master’s Degree in Political Science from the University of 

Missouri.

Ms. Fine specializes in cases involving identity theft, fraud and crimes against children. 

She is currently the Identity Theft Contact Point in Maryland and has led the Maryland Identity 

Theft Working Group since it was formed in 2006. Her cases have been the subject of television 

shows and books, and her work has garnered her numerous awards. Ms. Fine has twice been 

named the Financial Crimes Prosecutor of the Year. Ms. Fine has published several articles, 

including one in 2003 regarding the interplay between criminal investigations and bankruptcy 

law, and has taught and spoken extensively on the topics of bankruptcy, fraud, identity theft, 

elder fraud and abuse, victims’ rights, task forces and working groups, and criminal collections, 

including participating in telecasts by the Judicial Training Center for court personnel and 

speaking before the National Governors’ Conference.
Identity Theft: Planning for the Future

Eva Velasquez is the President/CEO at the Identity Theft Resource Center. Eva 

previously served as the Vice President of Operations for the San Diego Better Business Bureau 

and spent 21 years at the San Diego District Attorney’s Office. She has a passion for consumer 

protection and educating the public about identity theft, privacy, scams and fraud, and other 

related issues and is recognized as a nationwide expert on these topics. Eva has been featured 

on such outlets as the CNBC Nightly Business Report, Huffington Post Live, Forbes, Bloomberg, 

Kiplinger’s and numerous other outlets. She is the driving force behind the first free ID Theft 

Help App and the ITRC Hands-On Privacy Program which aims to empower our community to 

protect their mobile data. Eva is regularly invited to speak at events nationwide and has 

recently had the privilege to present at such forums as Twitter’s National Cybersecurity 

Awareness Month’s Event, the Victims Of Crime Act (VOCA) National Training Conference, the 

Privacy Xchange Forum, and the National Association of Area Agencies on Aging’s annual N4A 

conference with the Federal Trade Commission. As the head of The Identity Theft Resource 

Center, she has co-hosted events with Google and Lexis Nexis. Eva is a recipient of awards such 

as The Stevie® Award for Women in Business recognizing women internationally and the 2016 

Women Who Mean Business Award for her contribution to San Diego’s business, civic and 

cultural landscape.

Ellen Abbott has been with Kroll since the inception of the Identity Theft and Breach 

Notification office in Nashville in 2003. She holds a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in 

Psychology that served her well as a Fraud Investigator during her consultation and restoration 

work with victims. Since 2015, she has served as the Manager of Consumer Investigations, 

directly overseeing the Restoration team of Investigators as they restore victims’ identities. 

Ellen is a Nashville native and lives with her husband Ryan and two daughters, Izzie and Brianna 

ages 6 and 3.

Resources for Recovery

Nat Wood is the Associate Director for the FTC’s Division of Consumer & Business 

Education (DCBE), where he’s been a manager for 15 years. DCBE applies skill in 

communications, design and building partnerships to solve consumer protection problems. Nat 

and the FTC’s IdentityTheft.gov team are finalists for a 2017 Service to America Medal from the 

Partnership for Public Service. IdentityTheft.gov helps victims report the crime and gives them a 

personal recovery plan. It also provides an FTC Identity Theft Report, which is a report to law 

enforcement under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. Nat graduated from Cornell University and 

has an MBA from George Washington University.

Laura Ivkovich is the Policy Analyst for the Office for Victims of Crime (OVC), Office of 

Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), where she analyzes legislation and 

regulations for potential impacts to victims. Her policy portfolio includes financial fraud and 

identity theft, as well as elder financial exploitation and abuse. Ms. Ivkovich received the 

Assistant Attorney General’s Award in 1995, for her work on revising the federal Attorney 

General Guidelines for Victim and Witness Assistance and again in 2007 for her national policy 
Identity Theft: Planning for the Future

work on identity theft. Ms. Ivkovich previously served as OVC’s Communication Specialist and 

oversaw OVC’s outreach, clearinghouse and websites activities. As a Program Specialist, she has 

overseen the development of 25 field resources on subjects ranging from ethics in victim 

services to serving victims after a mass fatality, and she oversaw the development of the 

National and State Victim Assistance Academy Initiatives. Ms. Ivkovich served as co-chair for 

the Victims’ Rights Committee to a government-wide Task Force on Financial Fraud. Before 

joining OVC in 1992, Ms. Ivkovich spent eight years at the Arizona Attorney General’s Office, 

where she initiated the first volunteer driven, prosecutor-based, state victim/witness assistance 

and appellate notification program of its kind in the country. She progressed from Senior Legal 

Research Specialist, to Assistant Director of Special Operations to Director of the Attorney 

General’s Victim/Witness Assistance Program. Ms. Ivkovich holds a B.A. in Economics from 

Arizona State University and is a graduate of DOJ’s inaugural 2008 Leadership Excellence 

Achievement Program (LEAP).

Eugenia Buggs is the Vice President of Global Marketing of the Identity and Digital 

Protection Services business for Generali Global Assistance. In this role, Ms. Buggs leads 

strategic marketing initiatives designed to support key business messaging and promote 

growth, overseeing print and digital marketing campaigns, client/partner relations, advertising, 

public relations, and event promotion. Leveraging her extensive corporate, product and field 

marketing experience, she coordinates communications strategies across all business channels, 

collaborating with executives, sales teams and product managers to generate and distribute 

thoughtful, targeted marketing content.

Ms. Buggs’ marketing background has afforded her the opportunity to develop and 

implement large-scale global marketing programs and other key campaigns targeting business 

development and growth. She also has extensive management credentials and during her 

tenure has helped oversee a comprehensive rebranding strategy for the global unit’s U.S. 

offices and business lines.

Ms. Buggs began her career with Generali Global Assistance in 2011, and was promoted 

to her current role after serving as Marketing Manager and Director of Marketing. Prior to 

Generali Global Assistance, Ms. Buggs served as Brand Marketing Manager at CNH N.V. and 

held various marketing positions at Caterpillar Inc.

Ms. Buggs holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from North Carolina A&T State 

University, graduating Summa Cum Laude. She is a member of the American Marketing 

Association, Association of Strategic Marketing, and Association of National Advertisers.

Closing

Thomas B. Pahl was appointed Acting Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer 

Protection by Acting Chairman Maureen K. Ohlhausen on February 21, 2017. He oversees the 

Commission’s attorneys, investigators, and administrative personnel working to protect 

consumers from unfair and deceptive practices in the marketplace. Mr. Pahl first joined the 

agency in 1990, and spent more than two decades serving in various positions, including as 
Identity Theft: Planning for the Future

Assistant Director in the Divisions of Financial Practices and Advertising Practices, and as an 

attorney advisor for former FTC Commissioners Orson Swindle and Mary Azcuenaga.

Before commencing his current position at the agency, Tom was a partner at the law 

firm of Arnall Golden Gregory LLP in Washington, D.C., where his practice focused on consumer 

financial services and other consumer protection matters. He also was a Managing Counsel at 

the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Office of Regulations, where he was responsible for 

rulemaking, guidance, and policy development activities relating to debt collection, credit 

reporting, and financial privacy. 

Tom received his J.D., cum laude from Northwestern University School of Law in 

Chicago, Illinois, and his B.A., summa cum laude, in economics from the College of St. Thomas in 

St. Paul, Minnesota.