Over the last few years I've seen an increasing number of references to "identity theft".
The first time I encountered it was when a Professor Mahmood Mall visited Pretoria about 12 years ago, and there was a bit of newspaper publicity. He was travelling the world trying to make the public aware of the replacement of known and unknown persons by unknown and known persons.
He sounded like a nutty conspiracy theorist, and most of the newspaper reports were tingue-in-cheek. Since then the term "identify theft" has become more and more comon, and I wonder whether there really is a possibility that I will come home one day and find someone else living in my house, pretending to be me, and nobody in my family believing that I'm me, and in the end I will be locked up in a lunatic asylum for thinking I'm someone else, but really because someone has stolen my identity.
When I've asked about it, it seems that what most people seem to mean by the term is nothing more than "impersonation".
Is there anything more to it than that, and if so, what?
Steve Hayes
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
The first time I encountered it was when a Professor Mahmood Mall visited Pretoria about 12 years ago, and there was a bit of newspaper publicity. He was travelling the world trying to make the public aware of the replacement of known and unknown persons by unknown and known persons.
He sounded like a nutty conspiracy theorist, and most of the newspaper reports were tingue-in-cheek. Since then the term "identify theft" has become more and more comon, and I wonder whether there really is a possibility that I will come home one day and find someone else living in my house, pretending to be me, and nobody in my family believing that I'm me, and in the end I will be locked up in a lunatic asylum for thinking I'm someone else, but really because someone has stolen my identity.
When I've asked about it, it seems that what most people seem to mean by the term is nothing more than "impersonation".
Is there anything more to it than that, and if so, what?
Steve Hayes
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
Over the last few years I've seen an increasing number of references to "identity theft". The first time I encountered ... by the term is nothing more than "impersonation". Is there anything more to it than that, and if so, what?[/nq]It's a kind of impersonation, but of a new variety. Identity thieves typically obtain enough data about a person to be able to answer the few questions asked these days of people seeking credit cards or drivers licenses. They can get lots of this elecronically, particularly the credit card numbers, usually with just a bit of creative hacking, or they steal credit card receipts and discarded bank checks from the trash. They then obtain cards and licenses in the name of that person and proceed to use that person's identity.
They buy stuff without the victim's knowledge, using newly-established credit cards, usually with an address other than the victim's, so it may be weeks or months before the victim discovers what's going on. They get arrested for speeding and show a license with the victim's name on it. Occasionally they are even convicted and imprisoned in the name of the victim; imagine trying to get a felony conviction with your name on it, in a state where you do not live, expunged from all records.
Once again, the need for free flow of information collides with the need for more personal security. There are ways to reduce the risk of this sort of thing, but it is one of the most widely spreading crimes in the US, and it is probably becoming common elsewhere as well. Lawmakers in the US are already looking at ways to tighten up on sharing of information in ways that make identity theft harder, but I doubt they will ever stop it.
Bob Lieblich
So far, so good
The inimitable (Email Removed) (Steve Hayes) stated on 07 Sep 2003:
Over the last few years I've seen an increasing number of references to "identity theft". The first time I encountered ... by the term is nothing more than "impersonation". Is there anything more to it than that, and if so, what?[/nq]From my understanding of the term, identity theft occurs when someone gets enough of your personal information (bank account #s, credit card #s, birth date, government ID # social security number in the USA pin #s, passwords, etc) to impersonate you. This impersonation seems to be primarily for the purpose of spending your money, but I saw a TV show about a former US Air Force officer who'd once lost his wallet with all kinds of IDs in it. Some years later, he retired from the Air Force and expected to be able to easily get work, but he kept getting refused.
Finally, he discovered that the guy who had found his wallet had stolen his identity and used all his personal info for a driver's license, credit cards, prison information,etc. The ex-officer learned that he had been refused for so many jobs because the thief had used the officer's name and ID numbers when he was arrested and convicted a few times for crimes. Naturally, the officer had stated on his employment applications that he had never been arrested, but when security checks came back, they indicated that he had been in prison.
It took him years to get his life turned around.
Just a couple of months ago, a teenager in the US was arrested for identity theft after stealing credit card info on lots of people. He used their personal info to rack up something like -16,000 in credit transactions. This seems to be the more common use for identity theft. It can ruin your credit rating, and in America, that can mean that suicide will offer you a more staisfactory lifestyle.
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Over the last few years I've seen an increasing number of references to "identity theft". The first time I encountered ... by the term is nothing more than "impersonation". Is there anything more to it than that, and if so, what?
That is basically it - impersonation with the papers to prove it.
Given the correct personal details an impersonator can obtain a drivers license, a birth certificate copy, and other authentic documents in your name, up to and including a passport. From that point forward they are you, their crimes are your crimes, and your money is their money.
Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
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"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."
Over the last few years I've seen an increasing number ... anything more to it than that, and if so, what?
That is basically it - impersonation with the papers to prove it. Given the correct personal details an impersonator can ... a passport. From that point forward they are you, their crimes are your crimes, and your money is their money.
I am involved in an identity mixup of sorts. It seems that someone opened a Sprint PCS phone account in their own name and with their own address in a town quite far from mine, but somehow, whether through his intent or Sprint's error, the Social Security number entered in his Sprint records matches mine. He has not paid his bill, and apparently is ignoring any mail sent to him, I don't know.
The funny thing is that at the time, I had a Sprint PCS account that was always current, but now has been closed with a zero balance shown on the last statement. In any case, finding a matching SSN in their records with my name attached to it, Sprint started bugging me by phone about that unpaid account, but they never sent me a statement, so I kept shrugging it off as some slight mixup (several of their represenatives told me that they'd take care of it).
The account was sold (I guess they sell them) to a collection agency at the end of last year.
Well, the original collection agency (Allied Interstate) appears to have given up on badgering me, but lately there's another collection agency (Financial Asset Management) that appearas to be picking up the fight. They have called me about five times since mid-August, but each time I simply stated that it is not my bill and that Sprint has made an error, and then I hung up. As long as I don't receive anything in the mail, which I haven't, that's the easy way to handle it. We'll see how this progresses. After a year of getting used to it (it started with Sprint PCS themselves) I have a fairly bla·sé attitude about it.
Skitt (in Hayward, California)
www.geocities.com/opus731/
Over the last few years I've seen an increasing number ... anything more to it than that, and if so, what?
It's a kind of impersonation, but of a new variety. Identity thieves typically obtain enough data about a person to ... up on sharing of information in ways that make identity theft harder, but I doubt they will ever stop it.
I don't see much difference between that and impersonation. In fact it *is* impersonation.
Why a new word to replace an existing one?
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk
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Over the last few years I've seen an increasing number ... anything more to it than that, and if so, what?
From my understanding of the term, identity theft occurs when someone gets enough of your personal information (bank account #s, ... can ruin your credit rating, and in America, that can mean that suicide will offer you a more staisfactory lifestyle.
That's one reason why I never buy anything over the internet.
But it still seems to be imperonation rather than identity theft. The person pretends to be me, but does not *become". I do not wake up one mirning and find I don't know who I am because someone has stolen my identity.
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk
Over the last few years I've seen an increasing number of references to "identity theft". The first time I encountered ... is nothing more than "impersonation". Is there anything more to it than that, and if so, what? Steve Hayes http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/stevesig.htm
Essentially, identity theft involves someone posing as you- with full identification to prove he is you.
It has been done for many, many years, and there are many, many ways of impersonation people, living and dead.
However, with the advent of computers, and the realization that gaining enough information about someone to actually impersonate them to others (such as credit card companies, banks, etc) is so freaking easy, the crime is on the fast track.
There are so many ways to gain information on people it is usually recommended you shred your trash (cross-cut shredder) and avaid giving out information like your social security number (such as to places you write checks to). There are tons of other precautions you need to take as well- and simple searches on the internet will teach you how to protect yourself.
The inimitable (Email Removed) (Steve Hayes) stated on 07 Sep 2003:
In most instances, I would agree that it amounts to simple impersonation. The problem is when someone with a driver's license, credit card, and social security number is convicted of a felony and goes to jail. It's not as easy to have the records corrected, even when you can prove through fingerprints and other sources that you were not the perp. You may not wake up and find yourself to be without your old identity, but you do wake up and find that your identity has been expanded to include someone who is not you and, more than likely, someone whom you do not know, and you now have to live with the consequences of his behavior as well as of your own.
Maybe it should be renamed "unauthorized identity time-sharing".
But it still seems to be imperonation rather than identity theft. The person pretends to be me, but does not *become". I do not wake up one mirning and find I don't know who I am because someone has stolen my identity.
In most instances, I would agree that it amounts to simple impersonation. The problem is when someone with a driver's license, credit card, and social security number is convicted of a felony and goes to jail. It's not as easy to have the records corrected, even when you can prove through fingerprints and other sources that you were not the perp. You may not wake up and find yourself to be without your old identity, but you do wake up and find that your identity has been expanded to include someone who is not you and, more than likely, someone whom you do not know, and you now have to live with the consequences of his behavior as well as of your own.
Maybe it should be renamed "unauthorized identity time-sharing".
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