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Identity Theft Countermeasures?

Posted by Cliff on from the don't-keep-your-identity-in-your-back-pocket dept.

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?"

5 of 609 comments (clear)

  1. This is offtopic. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    Mark: here's the plans. After decoding, make sure you only store them on a floppy disk and then destroy it.

    begin-base64 600 plans.txt
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    L

  2. Sad News... Filthy Critic dead at 54 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    I just heard some sad news on talk radio - movie review writer The Filthy Critic was found dead outside the Arvada Tavern last Thursday. He died the way he lived--wobbling aimlessly in the slow lane. I'm sure everyone in the Slashdot community will miss him - even if you didn't enjoy his work, there's no denying his contributions to popular culture. Truly an American icon.

  3. Mod parent up.. by msimm · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    I'm going to tell that one to my children. Well put.

    --
    Quack, quack.
  4. Re:your sig... by Elminst · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    ...is not valid.

    "Your search - "who has the software with the most security bugs ever" - did not match any documents."

    --
    No unauthorized use. Trespassers will be shot. Survivors will be shot again.
  5. Re:You're overreacting by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    "I really don't think all of this is necessary."

    Yeah, I agree. This is totally unfounded.

    BTW, Linus, if you're reading this, what about just releasing 2.6 next week? We know testing is really going very well and, since my Parkinson problems went away after I found a great medication, I think we could up the ante and proceed to 2.6-final. The risks are minimal.

    Yours, truly,

    Alan Cox6