Identity Theft Skeptic Ends Up As Fraud Victim

An anonymous reader writes "British TV host Jeremy Clarkson recently wrote a newspaper editorial ridiculing the uproar that had occurred after the British government admitted to losing two compact discs containing the personal information on 25 million people. To support his claim about the overhyped risks of identity theft, he published his bank account information in the article. Proving that some identity thieves have a sense of humor, a week later, he found out that someone had set up an automatic bank transfer for $1000 to a diabetes charity from his account. This comes less than a year after the CEO of LifeLock, an identity theft protection company which publishes the CEO's social security number on its website, himself was a victim of financial fraud. Back in July of 2007, a man in Texas was able to secure a $500 loan from a payday loan company using the CEO's widely publicized SSN. Will this latest incident finally prove that identity theft is real, and that publishing your own financial info is an invitation for fraud?"

Comments

He had it coming...

[Red Samurai]

That was a pretty arrogant move, even for his standards, and I'm sure he's be humbled (somewhat) after being taken down a peg. I guess that's the price you pay for overconfidence.

How??

[jackjeff]

How in hell is this possible?

Isn't your bank the only institution able to transfer money out of your account? Don't you have to show your ID? Don't you have to sign some documents???

My opinion is ID theft is only possible because the clerks in the banks are too lazy to check for an ID or a signature. Whenever you go to a bar in the US, they will look at your ID before they serve booze, but if you set up a $xxxx account/load no one will ever check it. This is just how ridiculous the system is. Account number without proof of identity should be as useless as a car without gas.

Re:If you give it away

[Hognoxious]

If you then use it, claiming you are a person you are not, that's fraud and illegal in most jurisdictions.

And any bank and its imbecile staff that allows you to pretend to be someone you aren't because they can't be arsed to properly check[1] should be liable for the loss themselves.

Before anyone claims that giving his bank account number out was irresponsible - it's printed on the bottom of your cheques.

[1] Even if more than one person can have the same name, it should be easier than normal in this case.