Loss of Personal Info As Stressful As Losing a Job

An anonymous reader writes "Americans feel most vulnerable about the loss or theft of their personal or financial information, according to a national survey. 54% of Americans said the prospect of losing this data 'extremely concerned' them. Losing personal or financial information ranked similar to concern over job loss and not being able to provide healthcare for their family. In terms of specific risks within the online threat landscape, identity theft ranked as the chief fear. Nearly a third of Americans reported identity theft as their greatest concern to personal safety and security on the Internet. The fear of someone hacking into their financial information or accounts ranked a close second, with a quarter of Americans listing it as their greatest worry."

Comments

IL is baning credit checks for most jobs and credi

[Joe The Dragon]

IL is baning credit checks for most jobs and bad credit can come from getting sicks and running big bills with or without benefits.

As a victim of identity theft...

[Jason Levine]

As a victim of identity theft and someone who has lost his job in the past, I can say that, in many ways, identity theft is more stressful. If you lose a job, you need to worry about not having money and you need to find another job. Once you find a job, though, that worry goes away (or at least goes back to normal levels).

When your identity is stolen, your information is now "out there." Even if the thief is captured (unlikely), he might have shared the information with a dozen other people or have purchased the information from someone who sold it to other people. This means that plugging one leak doesn't end the stress as other leaks could pop up at any time.

In addition, you don't merely need to deal with one company (ala getting hired). You need to deal with at least three big credit agencies that really don't care if your identity was stolen. You need to prove to them that they have the wrong information on file. You might also need to deal with collection agencies who really don't care that you're not the one who bought that boat in Florida and the stereo equipment in California. You might also need to deal with credit card companies who (like the credit agencies) really only care about their profits and don't see your identity theft claim as "profitable." Then there's dealing with police officers who, while they might be well-meaning, really have no training to deal with these crimes and possibly no jurisdiction for the crimes.

With all that stress, it's a good thing the FBI has made Identity Theft a top priority. Oh, wait, they haven't.

Re:As a victim of identity theft...

[Shotgun]

Hear. Hear.

And the first step to making it their problem, is to require them to tell us what they are telling everyone else. And I don't mean one stupid free report a year. Send me a report every time you sell a report to someone else. All it will require is a duplicate print, and a few cents in postage.

The next step will be to block any random company from obtaining my credit information. (What the hell is that about anyway? What do you call that "legitimate spying"? Forkin' peeping toms.)

Nexus, Equity, TransUnion, etc should be working to validate the information in their databases. The easiest way to do that is to verify my information with me.