Slashdot Mirror
Identity Theft Countermeasures?
gbell asks: "Stories about reconstructing shredded documents and horrific tales of rampant identity theft (at least 750K victims/year) have me scared and wondering if I'm being careful enough. What are savvy Slashdot readers doing to protect their financial identity? I already have fraud alerts on my credit reports, which make sure I'm contacted if any requests for additional credit happen. I've called 800-5-OPT-OUT and stopped all the credit card offers. I use unique passwords on all of my online financial accounts. I shred and pulp-ify all documents. I order periodic copies of my credit reports (although I'm irked that I have to pay for them - they're only free if you've been recently denied credit). Is there anything else I should be doing? People spend years sorting out ID theft, and I'm wondering when credit-abusers will start crying 'fraud' just to get out of debt... making things even harder for the true victims. Cops don't have time to do anything, even if you find the perp yourself. The situation looks like it's going to get much worse, and I'm willing to take steps now to increase my security at the cost of convenience. Suggestions?"
are about to be pounced upon by a man-eating tiger. One man starts to properly lace up and tighten his running shoes. The second one looks at him and says, "Do you think you can outrun a tiger?"
The first man replies, "I don't have to outrun the tiger - I just have to outrun you."
You're taking all the right steps to protect yourself - short of becoming an unperson, you can't become totally secure. People who resort to breaking the law to get what they want, as a general rule, are not interested in working any harder than necessary. Make sure that stealing your identity is quite a bit tougher than that of the guy next door, and let diminishing returns work for you.
Karma: Excellent, but still won't get you laid.
I beg to differ. ID theft is one of the fastest rising crimes in the nation. It's easy, low-risk, and quite lucrative. Right now your odds of getting hit are about the same as being sued by the RIAA but that's sure to rise as the criminals start scripting their thefts from online databases using their PC's. I think there are two ways to stop ID theft:
1) Pass laws stopping the profileration of personal data between Corps without your consent
2) Hold companies accountable if they mishandle your personal data
I think #2 is the big one. It is unbelievable to me that TRW, Equifax, et al can compile massive databases on people without our consent that governs whether or not you can even rent an apartment and then disavow all accountability when that data is inaccurate or misappropriated.
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If you are like me and really pissed off, and have some good advice on legislation that can be supported to change all this, please post it below.
I agree. This is another case of the FEARS Virus. Many cases of identity theft are roomates, sometimes even family, intercepting mail and using their knowledge of your Social Security number or where to find it. In fact, most of the cases labeled as "Identity Theft" are not cases of someone going out and getting a driverse license with their picture and the victim's name. Those cases indeed occur, but are far more rare and usually executed by experienced "professional" criminals.
That aside, I have taken these measures to avoid identity theft:
1) Removed any mention of my social security number from my wallet. This required complaining to my health insurance company to get a new ID Number and renewing my driver's license in person. Well worth it.
2) Destroy all "preapproved" credit card offers. Mostly this means just ripping to shreads the unique IDs/barcodes and addresses that are inkjetted on to the press or laser printed form.
3) Never give passwords or financial information to financial web sites that are not required to complete transactions. This will minimize your exposure to hacking.
Many states have laws allowing you to get a free credit report if you suspect you've been denied credit due to an error in credit bureau records. If you're still nervous without being denied credit, get a low cost credit report for about $30 from a company such as TrueCredit.com.
Other than for big ticket items like a mortgage or a car loan, don't use credit or debit cards unless you absolutely have to (ie for emergencies).
You may think the cashless society is more convenient (and in many ways it is unless you are in line behind ten people collecting airmiles and using their debit cards - if they could just pick the right account or PIN....), but the cashless society also makes tracking all your habits much easier for the IRS, the FBI, CIA, DARPA, or any other acronym you choose. Why make it too easy for them.
Use cash (and the barter system is always good too, wherever possible), and give out as little personal information in any given transaction as you can. this helps to protect you not just from ID thieves, but from unwanted corporate data-mining or government intrusion as well.
A thriving black market is a neccesary check against unlimited government control.
How in the world is your DOB hard to get? I can run a $39.95 report on you on the internet and get that plus your last 3 addresses, phone numbers and employers. Its printed on your drivers license, so its considered public knowledge about yourself. LOL that is the silliest thing I have heard all day..
The companies love to say "prove you didn't open the account."
And the proper response is "prove that I *did*". Remember, if you did, they should be able to show signatures, security photos, etc. If you want to get brutal, simply sue them for defamation and subpoena those items.
This stuff will stop when people start actually fighting back against the companies that are facilitating it.
Do you have ESP?