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?"

Re:You're overreacting

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.

X

Re:You're overreacting

Right now your odds of getting hit are about the same as being sued by the RIAA

Oh, SHIT. 'Cuz I've had my identity stolen.

Jokes aside, the questioner is NOT being paranoid. The complete lack of interest that AOL, eBay, and others showed in my IDTheft case convinced me that it's a complete fuster-cluck. Jurisdiction is hazy, so the cops want nothing to do with it, either.

First, don't know what OP meant by shredding and pulpifying docs, but that sounds a step overboard. The joke about outrunning the slowest target is on par here... unless you're rich, don't sweat things THAT much.

Second, I haven't seen mention of passwording bank accounts. Call your bank, ask them if they'll allow a passcode that must be given before releasing info. Mine wouldn't even give my sister a standard receipt for a deposit 'cuz she didn't know my code. They hand-wrote one without account info.

Get splashID, S.T.R.I.P, or some other hard-encrypted storage means for secure/risk data like unique passwords and credit card info. These two are for the palm OS. Both are great. SplashID is flashy, STRIP has a keygen tool that I use for random 8-char alpha/num/symbol passwords at work. Both use AES or similarly-hard encryption.

When in doubt, make like the Reb's did in the civil war... leave a burned swath all the way to the freakin' sea. When I got hit, I took an hour to realize and internalize that Yes, this was really happening and then decided to damn well stop things in their tracks. I asked for cancellation and new cards on any and all accounts. I contacted everyone and everything I had a financial interest or account with that was big enough to concern me (savings, checking, mortgage, phone company, insurance, credit-reporting agencies, stock broker) and notified them via phone (with a written followup) the situation in enough detail to make damn sure that if anyone REALLY good took my life apart that I could sue the banks/etc. for negligence after due notice had been given them.

Then I put in a bit of effort to hunt down and destroy the cockroaches who'd done this to me. That's when I learned how poorly-handled this is by everyone involved. It was educational. How educational? Well, let's just say it's enough to make me consider a short life of crime followed by a long comfy life in some tropical nation without extradition treaties. A classic moment included eBay refusing to give me information (or even capture it and hold it in escrow for possible subpoena by law enforcement) about an account opened in my name once I'd informed them that it was being used for Identity Theft.

All said, I wasted a huge amount of time, have endured a lot of inconveniences and a couple grand worth of losses and expenses. The cockroaches got away and tried again to use my info six months later. That time, nothing worked and they went away hungry thanks to all the passcodes, new accounts, etc. I'd put in place.

Six months ago, I volunteered to help find lost classmates for a reunion. It took me a couple days of spare-time searching to get even more unnerved about the availability of data. Without spending $10-20 for more-detailed reports, I was batting .600 (60%, for non-baseballians) at finding people. If I'd spent cash, a marriage database was available that I suspect would have taken me to 95% success. Success = full name including middle name, address, date of birth, place of birth, and enough optional details like employer, children, spouse, a narrowed list to use to guess relative names from, etc. Free. And fast.

I'm not gonna go full John Doe by Choice, but I shred religiously and I'm tempted to keep cancelling/changing accounts gradually, just to thin out the risk further. I read EVERY credit-card flyer that mentions fraud/theft protections, looking for ways to protect myself, and I plan to use a disposable credit card if travelling internationally.

I'm no doubt forgetting a

Re:You're overreacting

First, don't know what OP meant by shredding and pulpifying docs, but that sounds a step overboard. The joke about outrunning the slowest target is on par here... unless you're rich, don't sweat things THAT much.

A decent crosscut shredder is now $30 at Target, and yes you do want to sweat things that much, especially in urban areas. Otherwise, any dumpster-diving moron can get ahold of your vital financial information.

Got good credit? Do you get those credit card offers in the mail? Or does your dipshit credit card company send you 'free' checks to use to pay off other balances? You may be fucked if you're just throwing them out unopened and unmolested.

Get a crosscut shredder. Shred everything customized with your name, SSN or credit card numbers before throwing it out. This is really important. The US post office usually does a decent job of protecting mail en route (usually...), but once it's in your hands it's your responsibility.

Re:You're overreacting

Try making up a good last name. I use "Smith".

Ever so sincerely,

Dave uh... "Smith"

Re:You're overreacting

What really annoys me about this are the health insurance companies. Seems like they all use you SSN as ID, boldly printed on your membership card. (Aetna urged me to "always keep it with you", or something to that effect -- yeah, right.) A BCBS rep told me over a year ago they were phasing them out, in part due to a California law requiring the change. I hope they'll all make the move real soon...

Re:You're overreacting

Agreed. According to the National Center for Victims of Crime [ncvc.org], it was about 1/10th that figure for 2001 (the most recent stats they have).

Looking at one of their reports, I believe the quote was "The FTC's identity theft Web site had received more than 699,000 hits since it was launched in February 2000" that spawned that number.... The actual report I expect it's from is here [ftc.gov], and the article from the story misquoted it - the actual number of complaints to the FTC via their hotline for 2001 was over (but probably around) 86,000.

Several websites seem to use the larger number, but most of them are selling something and just playing "woopsie" with the numbers.

At 86,000, that puts it more at the level of arson. So I'll spend just about as much effort avoiding it - none outside of common sense. However, my credit cards do have insurance, just like I have insurance on my apartment and belongings. And I don't post my SS# to usenet.

What I encounter far more often is the stupid debt collection agencies sending me bills that have nothing to do with me, where the name is slightly different and the SS# is nowhere near the same - I don't think those are someone trying to steal my identity. Rather, I think it's the debt collectors getting desperate to find someone and spamming any name that's even close hoping that either they'll find him, or someone else will pay the bill without realizing it isn't them.

Oh - by the way, the "using seperate random passwords for important online accounts" thing.... I count that as common sense. Add in - not logging into bank or brokerage services from untrusted computers, especially at Kinko's.

Re:You're overreacting

I agree. This is another case of the FEARS Virus [mybusinessmag.com]. 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 [truecredit.com].

Re:You're overreacting

IMO this is just another case of the media sesationalizing news to drive up ratings.

No... it isn't. Allow me to elaborate:

My employer uses an electronic payment system provided by iPay [ipay.com]. The other day, I was required to "re-regster" due to some "security enhancements". A long story short: the registration process hick-upped and I was able to pull up some serious information (accidentally) on *other people*. I could have done some damage with this info. Much damage. But instead, I called up, reported the event and switched back to the old mail-it-to-me method of compensation. It is worth it.

Another event happeed recently - I registered for DTE Energy [dteenergy.com] for auto-deduct/electronic billing. After I had some trouble with the freakin' way the site handles cookies, I would up calling tech support. It turns out that DTE simply uses CheckFree.com [checkfree.com] to provide these services. In the process of registration, DTE simply *stole* my MSN Passport (it did not notify me and I had no idea that I had a checkfree account until the tech told me). When the tech support agent told me that my logon to checkfree was *my freaking MSN passport*, I bitched like hell and asked him to cancel my account. I mean, WTF? Do they think that I'd be happy to trust *Microsoft* with my checking account?

I could go on... The bottom line is that nothing is safe anymore. Democracy and Capitalism are mutally exclusive.

I was the victim of identity theft.

I don't think he is overreacting. Identity theft is much easier and more lucrative than mugging. You MUST protect yourself because law enforcement don't care or know what to do about identity theft. I should know because my identity was stolen a couple years ago.

The culprit sent the Seattle Post Office a change-of-address form on my behalf, forwarding my mail to his personal residense (in another state). I quickly changed my address back. I tried to get the Seattle Postal Inspector to investigate, but he did not care. He literally showed me the change-of-address card. He had the guy's fingerprints, handwriting, and HOME ADDRESS in his hands, but he said there was nothing he could do. He gave me his business card and sent me on my way. When I called him the next week, he replied angerly, "how the hell did you get this phone number?!" I guess he must not like his job because he is certainly not doing it well.

The culprit must have received some of my mail with my stock brokerage statements. A few weeks later he contacted my stock brokerages and told them to my new address was his home address. Thanks a LOT, Etrade and DLJ Direct! He changed my brokage address about SIX TIMES before I transfered all my funds to a new brokerage. The police in my state did NOT care. The police in his state did NOT care.

By this time, I had canceled my credit cards and put an alert on my credit reports. This saved my butt! Six months later, I get a call from Sears Credit Services asking permission to issue a credit in my name. The guy was trying to use my SSN (from my brokerage statements) to get a Sears credit card. Finally, the police were interested.

They captured the guy and he did three months in jail. This was just for credit card fraud. He did no time for inter-state mail fraud or tampering with my brokerage accounts. The police officer told me that he was surprised the guy even got three months because he was a first time offender, claimed to have a drug problem, and (to quote the police officer) "he looked like a god-damned choir boy".

Unfortunately, the story didn't end there. Six months later, I got my credit report and noticed some unpaid long-distance phone bills to his home address. I had to jump through many hoops to prove to the debt collection agency that those debts were his and not mine.

The greated irony is that this guy and I went to the same university. We share the same first and last names, but different middle names. In school, I would occassionlly receive a few of his letters in my mailbox, including checks (made out to our shared name), angry bank letters, and a break-up letter. I returned all of his mail to him, with an apology for accidentally opening his letters. He never thanked me.

Re:I was the victim of identity theft.

Is this a service offered by your state or the credit reporting agencies? Do you have to pay for this?


This is not a state service. You must contact the three (redundant) credit report agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Tell them to put an alert on your credit report requiring creditors to contact you via telephone for approval before issuing credit in your name.

This alert is free and has the nice side effect of eliminating those unwanted, pre-approved credit cards in the mail. Creditors can't mail you pre-approved credit cards if they didn't call you for permission first! Those pre-approved credit cards are easily stolen and used to buy stuff in your name with credit accounts you never even knew you had!

Also, if you tell Equifax, Experian, or TransUnion you your wallet or mail was stolen, they will give you a free copy of your credit report (once per year). They don't verify this, but they might get suspicious if your wallet is stolen every January. I get my three credit reports (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) every year to make sure my identity theft problem does not come back to haunt me. You must check all three credit reports because they contain different and often incorrect information about your credit accounts.

I was also the victim of identity theft

I was also the victim of identify theft a couple years ago. It was a very *long*, frustrating and at times intimidating process to have everything returned back to normal. I think the warnings above should be taken seriously - it is very un-fun to have your identity stolen.

In my case I was *very* lucky because one credit card company tracked me down through my employer to verify that I had applied for an account (which I hadn't). I'm not sure what prompted them to do so. At that point they informed me that I was likely a victim of identify theft and the steps that should be taken next (which was a huge help because at the time I knew *nothing* about how the credit reporting agencies, etc. worked).

I called all the credit bureaus explaining I was a fraud victim and promptly received free credit reports from all of them. When I received these, I looked through the list of "current accounts" and observed that 3 credit card accounts (not mine) had been recently been successully opened in my name. In addition, I looked in the section that lists who has been *looking* at my account, and called everyone listed there to make sure there were no *pending* accounts. I discovered one more and had that canceled before it was even approved.

Initially a little scary, it was actually pretty easy dealing with the credit card companies (fraud departments) to have the accounts closed. Among other things, each company sent me an affidavit to sign indicating I did not open the account or make any charges. Several required these to be *notarized*. One credit card company (Fleet) was particularly slow in sending the affidavit and one day after receiving it, I received a rather nasty and threatening letter from another department at that company billing me for the $7000 in charges to the account because they had not received the signed affidavit from me.

Dealing with the credit bureaus was another matter. They sent me the credit reports in a hurry, but would not let me correct any of the account information. I could verify my name and SSN, but the address and birthdate they had on file for me had been switched (indirectly) by the culprit. It turns out that when you apply for a receive a new credit card, that credit card company will update your credit report with whatever address AND BIRTHDATE you put on that application form. So this is what happened to me... I had to mail in a paystub and recent utilities bill to "prove" I was at my new address. Once they had that, they reluctantly corrected my birthdate on file as well. Fortunately only one bureau had incorrect information.

At the same time, I put fraud alerts into all my credit reports, and opted out of all junk mail. (Certain credit companies can access your credit report to see if you are a good candidate receive junk mail from them.) I found it very annoying that you cannot put a "permanent" status on any of these things. Even though I've opted out, the occasional credit offer still comes through.

My best guess of what happened in my case is that a credit offer (junk mail) was sent to my old address and intercepted by the culprit (perhaps from the garbage if the current resident just tosses mail addressed to other people). I'm not sure how they got my SSN... I suspect one of the credit card offers listed it, or perhaps just didn't require it to be verified on the application. In the future I will be careful to update my address at the credit bureaus (I didn't realize one should have to do this, but I now realize it is a good idea) if for no other reason than to make sure junk mail gets to the right place.

As I said above, I was *very* lucky because one of the credit card companies caught a bogus application early. If they had not, then I probably would have been dealing with collection agencies and had all kinds of negative entries in my credit history. The credit bureaus really don't seem to give a rat's ass about having valid info or about helping you to correct mistakes. Negative entries stay in your rep

watch out for receipts

when you get a receipt, tear out your credit card number and tear it into smaller pieces. People can pick them out of the trash. I'm always careful to do this, many places put your number on your receipt.

Re:watch out for receipts

Or just dump something suitably gross in with 'em. I just dump out my chaw-spit cans.

(-1, disgusting)

Well...

Something similar happened to me, when someone changed their name to exactly the name of my father, and our credit reports got mixed up. (They lived in the same town, so it was odd.) All it took was a call to the credit company to get it straightened out, but we need to call occasionally to make sure that the credit gets fixed. 'das all.

Two measures

1. Delete your identity. I mean, really, do you need one? Just pay with cash and work for money under the table!

2. Steal someone elses and use it as your own. Then, if it's stolen, your real identity is still safe, and you can go steal another one.

I'd be willing to bet that most of this happens...

...because of two simple reasons:

1) Social security numbers are being used as "unique identifying numbers" EVERYWHERE. When you've gotten someone's SS#, you're halfway to having their identity.
2) Corporations and government agencies now operate almost exclusively on "scripts" and set patterns of behavior. In other words, there is a system to how each and every corporation or government entity does each and every thing that it does. Once you learn the system, all it takes is a little clever social engineering to pass your way through the entity's "checkpoints" (say, the question "What is your mother's maiden name?" or "What are the last four digits of your social security card?") and voila, they believe you are the person you're trying to become.

Re:I'd be willing to bet that most of this happens

The first problem, that SSNs are used everywhere, isn't really a security problem. SSNs aren't secret by a long stretch. To use them as passwords (as in problem 2) is just not right. The problem with SSNs being used everywhere is that it makes it trivial to combine records from different databases, which would not otherwise be easily automated. Gleaning information from databases that are combined can benefit companies, and hurt consumers.

Your health insurance people sure would like to know if you're ordering books on amazon.com that were also ordered by people who bought "Advancing Smoker's Rights" or "100% LARD - gravy recipes for every day of the month".. If every database listed your SSN, a unique identifier, it's a hell of a lot easier than figuring out whether J.Doe at 31 Palacestreet is also John K. Doe at 31 Palacest.

Of course, SSNs do make it easier to access information in general, so an identity thief can make life easier on himself by using your SSN to get ahold of your credit report or medical records, but that's not a failing of the SSN itself. That's just not keeping things secret.

Mother's maiden name authentication schemes suck ass (donkey!). In general not a lot of thought is given to security, especially when everything is done on paper; it took the internet before credit cards got those numbers on the back that change when you get a new card (smartest thing ever; my CCnumber is on the invoices I get. Which also list the expiration date when the invoice is for the yearly fee.. I've not been asked for the CVC/CVV code yet..)

It's basically a choice for convenience over security.

Re:I'd be willing to bet that most of this happens

You're right about that SSN stuff. I bank at Wells Fargo and until a few months(2-3) back, I only had the option of using my SSN instead of a username.

I've used a key logger on my computer for ~2 years now(legal reasons). Whenever my friends visited my apartment, they would ask me to login so that they could check their email etc. I used to flatly refuse and tell them my machine had a key logger in it.

One way to check if a machine has a keylogger is to type some stuff like "yakyak", reboot and do a search for text files containing that term.
I had to do this a few times to convince my friends and sometimes explain what a key logger was.

In my department, somebody had installed Half life and what not on computers running NT. It never occured to me at that time that somebody might also run keyloggers in the dept computers.
2 reasons. One- Eventhough the admin never came down to the basement lab(mostly used by MS, Phd students), he kept meticulous logs.
Two- I didn't think anybody was stupid enough to risk their freedom(expulsion, jail, maybe deportation) doing such stuff and again because of the logs.

So if your at a friend's house or some public library/cybercafe, its possible that a key logger might be installed.
So in this case you might have to "pulpify" somebody's head. :)

Also, if your bank/credit card company offers online only statements, definitely sign up. It's saved me the headaches of keeping them safe. I can always ask my bank for previous statements if I need them.

Worried? bah ...

Just do what I did ...ruin your credit and stay unemployed. I couldn't give my identity away.

I suggest tinfoil

Tin, not aluminium.

Easy

Just steal an extra identity and use that.

Two men...

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.

Re:Yeah, but...

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..

Paper Shredders

I've been thinking about investing in a good one. One interesting piece of trivia I found is that Oliver North used an Intimus [intimus.com] 007 to shred the Iran-Contra stuff back in 1987. The current incarnation of this model appears to be the Intimus 0077 SX [intimus.com]. This thing cuts pieces down to 1/32" x 1/2". A quick search on Froogle [froogle.com] says it goes for around $4500!!

They make some much cheaper models ($200-300), but the Olie model would be pretty cool to have.

Countermeasures

Is there anything else I should be doing?

Consider getting one of these [c2.com].

Re:Countermeasures

Shredding documents in particular is probably completely unnecessary

One of my best friends is a Secret Service agent. If you heard the stories he tells, you would not say this.

how about an example? On one fraud case he was on when they busted into the criminals house, they found piles of Checks, Credit card and utility statements. Most smelling of trash. They had conned over 200K using this information. If you think that just because the crooks were caught, it was skippy fun time for the victims you are quite wrong. Regardless of the circumstances one victim was evicted from their house, because of a bounced rent check (the thieves took the money) and then had a very hard time finding another place because of the damage the crooks had done to their credit report.
If I were you I would get a LOT more paranoid. On second thought don't. That way I only have to outrun you....(see above)

Credit reports

If you live in one of the following states you are entitled to one free credit report/year:
Colorado, Georgia, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, Vermont.

As far as getting one when you are denied credit, all it really takes is an inquiry. The credit agency doesn't know if the credit card, loan office, etc. approved or denied you. So if you've applied for anything recently you can call up and get a free report.

Call these numbers and follow the prompts for having been denied credit:

Experian 800.353.0809

Equifax 888.567.8688

TransUnion 800.680.7293

Free in Canada, why not the US too?

Credit reports are free in Canada. (if you mail/fax in) Online reporting costs.

Why not suggest they make them free in the US?

It really is in the your, the credit bureaus and the creditors best interest to have accurate information.

The smarter identity theifs actually pay the minimum payment to keep sucking money without alerting you.

BTW my favourite financial advice site is fool.com. They have many intelligent and well written articles that give guidance on these topics.

One great counter-measure.

Common sense. Use it.

Just this week, I was registering to take the FE exam (for engineering certification) in October. DAPE [dape.org] (who adminsters the test) then sends you a packet including a pre-addressed card that has to be sent in immediately (You've already sent them all this information. I don't understand why they want it all again) You put your information on it and mail it back to them. They actually want people to put their SSN on the card (no envelope) and mail it back. I sent it back to them (in an envelope, of course) with a little sticky-note telling them that I didnt think it was wise sending my SSN in plain sight through the mail.

Identity Theft Fear Mongering

I love how the credit agencies are fear mongering so they can sell their credit alert services. If they were really concerned about indentity theft they would allow us free acess to check our reports. Instead of making us spend $65 a year to notify us about credit changes. And BTW that $65 is for one credit agency there's two others as well. Such a scam.

The number is actually 1-888-5-OPT-OUT

The number is actually 1-888-5-OPT-OUT. It changed recently, according to the recorded message.

You have the option of getting "off the lists" for 2 years, or forever. You also have the option of getting back on the lists -- why you'd want to, I don't know.

Hint: Don't Join the Military!

This aggrivates me to no end. The US Army requires its soldiers to put their SSNs on almost every official peice of paperwork relating to them. Home addresses are only a 201 file away. I'm pretty sure that identity theft is rampant in the US military. Officers and high-ranking NCOs are probably even more vulnerable because of their higher salaries. I wish we would abandon SSNs for a military-only serial number.

Paying for Credit Reports

So, if you have had the "fun" of dealing with credit in the USA lately you may have learned a few things:

1. You are FUCKED if something happens to you, like your old wireless company charging you after you've ended your contract and then not contacting you, then reporting you, then having them not contact you, then finding out when you try to get a loan.
2. It takes SEVEN years for a collection that you paid for to go off your record
3. The only way to have good credit is to be in DEBT!!! Nevermind that you made it through college, and several years after with no debt, and no credit cards, since you shouldn't really need them.
4. The credit reporting agencies seem to operate with no oversite, and there is no way to actaully contact a person at them.
5. It is BULLSHIT that you have to PAY for your own credit report!! This has become a critical part of getting stuff ( i.e. fun new toys ), and it does NOT cost them $10 to send me an e-mail.

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.

Re:Paying for Credit Reports

Uh, sorry, wrong. Your credit rating is based on having lines of credit and paying them off on schedule. There are also components of debt ratio (how much debt you have compared to how much credit you have -- going over 50% is bad) and income ratio (how much unsecured debt you have compared to income), along with other things. Yes, I've worked in the industry.

Your credit rating has nothing to do with paying interest. You have the entire system screwed up in your head. The system is designed to let lenders know who will NOT repay the loan -- the interest is irrelevant if you never recover the principle. Since the inception it's been sliced and diced a million ways, but that's still the underlying purpose of the system -- to recognize good and bad credit risks.

Ready just now?

I'm willing to take steps now to increase my security at the cost of convenience.
(emphasis mine)

Not to rain on your parade or anything, but from the trouble you've taken (different passwords everywhere, spending money on periodic credit reports, premptive fraud alarms attached to your credit that will make applying for any sort of acredit a Pain for you) you already ARE at the point where you've given up a lot of convienence.

That being said, the one thing I've done that is 'inconvienent' is I don't sign my credit cards. Now, I don't mean I leave them blank - thats asking to get ripped off (anyone who steals the card can sign your name) - I put 'SEE ID' in the signature area. Mind you, a few places don't even bother to check the sig area, so you're still SOL if someone steals your card and uses it at a lax restraunt or gas station, but having the guy behind the counter ask to see a photo ID every time I buy something expensive feels like a good tradeoff to me.

Of course, someone could always make a fake ID with their photo and my name on it, but thats a lot of effort, and frankly, I'm not That paranoid. I have fraud insurance on all of my accounts, and have very clean credit. If I loose a card at an ATM (by forgetting it), or loose a imprinted recipt, I call the card company immediatly. Having a track record of getting new cards whenever something like that happens does wonders when there is something questionable on your statement and you call about it.
Along that vein, a friend of mine recommends reporting your card lost once or twice a year, just to get new cards with different numbers.

Then again, that friend is a little bit more paranoid then I am... He's about as paranoid as you are...
Hey, wait a second, you're name isn't Bryan is it?

Re:Ready just now?

I do this. In fact this is highly recommended by a federal agency that I can't recall at the moment. Consumer something. I don't really care what people say about it invalidating your card. That's BS as far as I'm concerned (and yes I know what Visa and MC say and I don't care).

I had a funny experience with this once. I bought a whole cart-load of stuff at a local Wal-Mart a couple years ago. The checkout girl ran it all through and I then gave her my Visa Check Card (before they had the card readers for the customers installed). The girl ran it through the card reader and had me sign the receipt. Then she compared my signature to the one on the back of the card. Well, on the back of my card I wrote "SEE PHOTO ID" in big bold letters that covered the full strip. This girl was foreign, Chinese I believe. She told me in very broken English that the "signatures" didn't match. Well duh. I tried explaining it to her for a good 2-3 minutes. She got louder. I got louder. She just couldn't get it through her head what "SEE PHOTO ID" meant. Finally our arguement attracted a manager. He asked her what the problem was to which she replied what she'd been saying for 2-3 minutes: "They don't match." I told the guy that he had 5 seconds to complete the sale or I was finished with the store. Remember not that I had a heaping-full cart load of stuff (large Wal-Mart with a grocery store inside). He took the receipt from the girl, handed me my copy, and that was that.

I still think writing "SEE PHOTO ID" on the backs of my cards is the best thing to do. I have NEVER had a single person compare the signature to the signature I just wrote. If anyone ever had they would see that they DO NOT MATCH. Not even close. I write very quickly most of the time and my signature is usually illegible and never the same twice. I do have people look at my face after looking at my photo ID about 80% of the time though. I feel it is by far a better solution overall. The best solution would be to use a card that has your photo on the card itself.

Sign with your hieroglyphics name...

It would do about as much good, given how rarely they read the signature or compare it to the slip. With your SEE ID, how often has anyone asked for it? I agree with the other respondents- you should still have a signature. IDs are easy to fake.

Read this account of how far you'd have to go to get them to reject a signature [zug.com] (answer: extremely far).

No problem...

It's important to remember that even though identity thieves are among the lowest of criminals, they aren't necessarily stupid. It's a common tactic for thieves to prey upon those who offer the greatest "return" on the investment of the thieves' time. Those most at risk are likely to have a number of common factors: high-limit or even limitless credit cards, excellent credit ratings, a complex network of high-balance accounts in various banks, a significant amount of money in savings and investments, etc. In order to best protect yourself and your loved ones, I recommend that you minimize your profile to the would-be thieves. There are a number of simple steps you can take to ensure your safety. For example:

* Do you have student loans? If so, consider letting the payments slip a little. Nobody wants an identity that can't take out student loans!

* Keeping up on your car payments? Stop. Thieves are less likely to steal the identity of someone who is being harassed by a repo man. As an added bonus, your chances of being victim to auto-theft just decreased significantly!

* Do you have a mortgage? Possibly, but I doubt you have enough of them! No thief wants to inherit the wrath of a bank trying to track down three mortgages' worth of money!

* How are your long-term investments? CD's? Mutual funds? Privately-managed portfolio? It doesn't matter; all of these glitter to the eyes of a veteran identity thief. You are much safer holding your money in an interest-free highly-liquid invesment account (coffee can). By reducing your apparent (and real) wealth, you become a much less desirable target.

* Employed? Then why not just toss your credit cards out the window? Nothing says "bullseye" like reliable employment. And consider this: when's the last time your heard someone in the unemployment line complain about identity theft. Never? Nobody likes to go through the effort of stealing an identity only to be rewarded with food stamps and meager checks.

In the end, identity theft will remain a significant problem in America--but only to those unlucky enough to ignore the above advice. The intelligent self-accountant will even find some more creative ways to be less attractive to thieves; consider child-support payments, court-ordered deportation, and terrorist sponsorship as well! Your safety in these trying times is only limited by your imagination.

When? Now.

From Article: "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."

Already. My wife sells telecom equipment for a major vendor, and they've had one guy try it. He bought something, and wanted to return it, but knew their policy wouldn't allow it. Instead, he claimed he never placed the order, that it was someone else stealing his card. Nice, huh?

Fake Social Security Number

If you are required to provide a social security number for some purpose, consider using 078-05-1120, which was printed on "sample" cards inserted in thousands of new wallets sold in the 40's and 50's. It's been used so widely that both the IRS and SSA recognize it immediately as bogus, while most clerks haven't heard of it.

See this page [cpsr.org].

Bullshit!

Why just the other day I was shopping and tried to use that exact same number! The clerk said that he thought it was a fake number, and that he heard it was passed around in wallets back during the 40's and 50's. Of course I had to weasel out of this. I explained to him that I felt giving me SS number was too much and I was worried about privacy issues. He then said I didn't need to worry since the free market would ensure companies would work hard to keep my info secret. I asked how, and he went on about the negative publicity a corp could receive if it was found out to be leaking personal info. Therefore, since they wanted my business, it was in their best interest to safeguard my data. I retorted with the fact that since so many computer crimes go unreported, his theory doesn't hold true for all situations. I said that until laws like the one passed recently in California go into effect nationwide, we all have to be careful with our data. The clerk responded that the free market would, in time, iron itself out and end up with a situation in which our data is safe. He went on to tell me he didn't believe in the protectionist role of government. I argued that the government wouldn't be protectionist, it would simply be enforcing the will of the people and not simply acting in their best interests. He was still leery of this proposition and said he was more comfortable with a system that didn't overburden corporations with unnecessary legislation. We finally agreed that this was primarily a wait-and-see issue, and laws or lack thereof would have to be determined at a future point when e-commerce and such had fully spread. Eventually I did get my Big Mac and fries from him, even though I disagree with him on principle.

Re:Fake Social Security Number

Here are some more articles about the infamous number: Social Security Administration [ssa.gov], Snopes Urban Legends (True Story) [snopes.com], Wikipedia (whole list of invalidated numbers) [wikipedia.org]. Interesting stuff for a Karma whore like me! :)

Tsk, tsk, you need to be doing /so/ much more...

First things first, get your fingerprints removed. A good big bucket of nitric acid should do the trick. Next up: those pesky iris patterns. I recommend you gouge out your eyeballs with a spoon and use the sockets to mount a pair of webcams. There was a story on slashdot a while back about a neural interface for these puppies. Remember, if you don't have eyeballs they can't steal your iris patterns! So far, so good. The next problem is your DNA. The bad news is, this is a cinch to steal and there isn't much you can do about it short of going round in a giant body condom for the rest of your life. The good news is, it's quite hard to use. However, before the time when ATMs authenticate you by taking a cheek cell sample I recommend you look into the latest in DNA resequencing technology and splice in a good long GPG public key somewhere. You'll have to memorize the secret key, all 4096 bits of it, and then wear a metal Faraday cage round your skull to prevent people reading it right out of your brain. -- There's a bunch of loonies in here. Loonies, I tell you!

This is more of a problem than many people realise

Fake identity (either fabricated or stolen) is more common than most people think.

I don't have the figures to hand, but here in Australia, there are several million more tax file numbers (the equivalent to Socian Security Numbers in the USA, or NI numbers in the UK) than the census would lead you to expect. The 'extra' tax files are basically criminals laundering money, various tax frauds (the second job in a false name to avoid tax) etc.

Trust me, you don't want to have your identity stolen.

A USAian friend some years ago had no end of trouble with the taxman there. She lived in NY, someone in Montana was working in a gas station under her SSN. Guess who got the tax bill?

The IR seemed to believe she was commuting most of the way across the USA for a part time job at minimum wage, and were very persistent in chasing her for the money. Every attempt to reason with them was met with "but our records show..."

Now imagine that the identity thief is not some redneck low-life, but a cocaine smuggler, international terrorist, serial killer ......

Common Names: My Sad Story

I have a very common name: Robert James Taylor. Look in your white Pages and you'll find me (I'm stalking you ;). Anyway, this fact has led to a number of strange "mistakes."

I moved to the Northwest a few years ago and was denied a driver's license due to "a suspended license for DUI in New Jersey." I'm from Texas. Some bloke in New Jersey with my exact name AND BIRTHDATE got his license suspended in New Jersey. Database matched me to his record and I was denied. So, thinking aloud, I told the clerk/officer that I am from TX and had never lived in NJ, never visited NJ, never flew over NJ nor had been to a neighboring state of NJ (*not completely true - I did visit Binghampton, NY once*). Then I asked a question: did his SSN match mine? "No." *WHEW* I got my license. Strange that my identity was proven by a number specifically bared from becoming an identification number (until the 1970's).

One other story...I went to open a checking account when I moved to CA. I was denied and the reason given is that I had used a fraudulent SSN#. Huh? I asked to see the report from their system and saw that, according to their check of Social Security Admin records my stated SSN was issued BEFORE I was born. I asked to see the date that their system said the number was assigned. Let's say I was born March 12, 1968 (I wasn't). The SSA's record for my SSN had Mar 0, 1968 as the assignment date. March ZERO? Turns out until sometime after the 1960's the day of issuance was not recorded. Unfortunately three things converged:

• SSA didn't record the day of issuance
• My dad, being a CPA specializing in Tax, signed me up for a SSN within days of my birth
• Bank of America's DBAs decided that Null fields in the Day of issuance were Zeroes and, ergo, my birthdate 19680312 was after the interpolated issue date 19680300

So, I had to traipse down to the SSN office and get a signed document validating my identity. *Sheesh*

Weird timing...

It's not identity theft, but just today I got a call from the title company that is handling the closing on the sale of my house, and lo and behold there are three judgements attatched to my house. Apparently there is another couple with my exact name and my ex-wifes middle name. Apparently they don't pay their rent or the judgements against them. Unfortunately, the attorney's for the plaintiffs against them (on three separate occasions unbeknownst to me) did a simple name lookup and found property with a name similar to the deadbeats and said, "Hey, when they sell their house... give the money to us!" I spoke to the courthouse, and they had no idea how I should go about fixing it. Now, I have to pay for an attorney to get everything cleared up... for the county's mistake! Infuriating.

I need your SSN

In order for me to help you. I will need your full name, ssn, date of birth, and a major credit card.

To all you laughing at this, it happened to me

I am a victim of identity theft, and it is hell dealing with the fallout of it. Someone opened store credit accounts in my name, ran up huge charges, and never paid them. It doesn't take an AFDB to be worried about this. It happens, and it's not easy to fix.

I have been round and round with the companies that were scammed with my identity. I am just now learning how to make sure my credit reports are annotated that the bad accounts are from identity theft. The bad info stays on the accounts, which as far as scoring goes, is just as bad if they weren't annotated.

The difficult part in dealing with this is you can't prove a negative. The companies love to say "prove you didn't open the account." There is no protection for this, and plans I've had for home ownership are ruined, at least for the past couple years, thanks to identity theft.

To those of you saying the poster needs an AFDB, think about what you'd do if you found false information, using your SSN, on your credit report tomorrow. That is what has happened to me.

Re:To all you laughing at this, it happened to me

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.

identify theft? I am immune!

I personally spent all my time over the past few years never paying bills on time, but at the very last minute. I especially did not pay any credit debts I had, but kept the merchandise and settled for a small payment with the credit company who loaned me the money for buying the items in the first place.

This all gave me an excellent (unusable to anyone) credit rating. In fact it is so good that now no one will loan me money. I cannot even buy a house or a car on credit.

You cannot imagine the peace of mind this gives me as no one will ever steal my credit identity for any reason. On top of all this, my present credit situation has saved me hundreds of thousands of dollars in credit interest over the past few years which I would have been paying had I still had good credit. It has allowed me to buy everything with cash, saving up for those things I really need. A small side effect of this is that impulse purchases, like that new sports car I really want, but which I do not need, are effectively impossible with my current credit standing. What a blessing!

I did not start out to do all this, but having gotten cancer and being unable to work for a few years has helped me tremendously to achieve my current credit status.

=)

Roger "Dodger" Born
writing.bonrgraphics.com

USE CASH!

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.

Security definitions.

Identify; to establish the identity - e.g. ask a user name (c.f. anonymous ftp).

Authenticate; checking the proofs of identification are legit, e.g. check that photo ID isn't a fake, check credentials w/ password.

Authorization; making sure this schmo you identified and whos id you authenticated is actually allowed to do what he's doing, e.g. permissions.

Auditing; keeping records, i.e. logging.
Non-repudiation; making sure some one can't claim "it wasn't me", e.g. videotaping ATM users. (Cryptographic non-repudiation often depends on keeping a secret, such as a secret key. Not a good assumption; "it was my 0wnx0r!")

Confidentiality; keeping secrets, i.e. don't give out private information.

Integrity; making sure stuff isn't changed (if it is changed, make sure it's audited)

Accesibility; make sure legit users can actually use their stuff.

Identity theft wouldn't be such a big problem if corporations and branches of government would authenticate properly. People's dogs are getting pre-approved credit card spam! If you know someone's momma's maiden name, banks will roll over and give you the key to the vault. Sure, they've got tons of money spent on all the other security features (except auditing of course. and integrity/accesibility, disaster data recovery people gotta make a buck to) but it doesn't help if you think someone's mom's maiden name is a secret!

About the author Walther fon Bernstien is a 31 year old technical writer from Houston, TX. He lives a quiet life writing from the historical "McDuff's Castle" building on 33nd Elm Street, left to him in 1989 by his mother, an accomplished pianist who performed under her maiden name Mary Jane Smythe. His interests include golfing at the Nine Yards Club, his dogs Whisky and Brandy, and numerology; he beliefs it's no coincidence that his social security number is 696969, while both his VISA and Mastercard creditcards have 6969 as the last 4 digits as well! Send him a card on his birthday, the 9th of June!

Kill the thief

Seriously. Hunt them down, and kill them. If they are going to ruin your life, you might as well have some fun with their entrails.

After a couple of us crazies "settle accounts", I think you'll have a hard time finding someone willing to commit identity theft again.

Re:Kill the thief

Killing a person who has assumed your identity...wouldn't this be suicide? Which is only illegal if you're unsuccessful?

They Can't Steal What You Don't Have

> 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?

Try being poor. Works for me.

Want a free credit report?

Go talk to a car dealer. Act interested in a car and have them run a credit report. They'll show you the results, and generally let you keep them. Since you don't care about the results unless your score has dropped 400 points in three months, you're just there for the fun of it. Plus you get to act like you've got money.

Protecting your Credit from Identity Theft

The next time you order checks have only your initials (instead of first name) and last name put on them. If someone takes your check book they will not know if you sign your checks with just your initials or your first name but your bank will know how you sign your checks.

When you are writing checks to pay on your credit card accounts, DO NOT put the complete account number on the "For" line. Instead, just put the last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the number and anyone who might be handling your check as it passes through all the check processing channels won't have access to it.

Put your work phone # on your checks instead of your home phone. If you have a PO Box use that instead of your home address. If you do not have a PO Box use your work address.

Never have your SS# printed on your checks (DUH!) -- you can add it if it is necessary. But if you have it printed, anyone can get it.

Place the contents of your wallet on a photocopy machine, do both sides of each license, credit card, etc. You will know what you had in your wallet and all of the account numbers and phone numbers to call and cancel.

Keep the photocopy in a safe place. Also, carry a photocopy of your passport when you travel either here or abroad.

Here's some critical information to limit the damage in case this happens to you or someone you know:

We have been told we should cancel our credit cards immediately. But the key is having the toll free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call. Keep those where you can find them easily.

File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where it was stolen, this proves to credit providers you were diligent, and is a first step toward an investigation (if there ever is one).

But here's what is perhaps most important:
Call the three national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number. The alert means any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit.

The numbers are:

Equifax: 1-800-525-6285
Experian (formerly TRW): 1-888-397-3742
Trans Union: 1-800-680-7289
Social Security Administration (fraud line): 1-800-269-0271

My experience

I moved 3 years ago and had the druggie who moved in after me at my former address open a credit card with my bank in my name (not too hard, I was born, married, and bought a house in this state). I didn't find out until 6 months later, since they'd never gotten payment (it was opened with the old address and for whatever reason no bills were ever forwarded to me). I got a call at work, from the bank, wondering why I wasn't paying on my credit card. "What credit card, I only have an ATM/Debit card with you?" Found it he'd opened it 2 weeks after I moved, don't know how he got all the info. He tested it for a fill-up at the gas station right down the street, then went to SF and filled up one more time, then bought a $1000 digital camera, and never used the card again.

I took the rest of the day off to get things taken care of (file a police report, call all the places I had major accounts with, write them letters, etc.). Basically nothing came of it, it was marked fraud and removed from my credit report (but would have caused me problems if I'd not known about it and had been trying to buy a car or a house, fortunately I'd already bought both).

Since then I've had another credit card used fraudulently. It's a card I use exclusively for online purchases, nothing else. I was happening to check the balance and saw 3 charges the day before, two in England and one in France - two were expensive travel cruises and one was for a couple hundred dollars worth of sports gear from an online store (all of it booked online). I called my credit card company and told them I had no clue what the purchases were. They put a freeze on the account and none of the transactions went through (even though I'd not have been liable anyway), but that was just dumb luck.

What I really like about that credit card company (MBNA) is that they new offer a feature called "Shop Safe." It allows you to set a maximum amount for a purchase and an expiration date, and then generates a temporary credit card number. I love this idea and I cannot understand why more companies don't do it.

I really think credit card companies should allow you to specify that you won't allow the card to be used for online purchases. I've got 3 cards with photos on them, and that's how I'd have those set: no purchases that are not in person (ban both online and phone purchases). For those purchases I'll generate a random number thru MBNA with a cap set.

Even that wouldn't stop the places that don't have humans handling the cards (gas pumps, self-checkouts at Home Depot, etc.,) and even places with humans aren't helpful (restraunts never ask for ID even with it written on the signature strip, and some places with the VISA/ATM stand out for the customer to swipe it themselves).

My brother was recently doing credit checks and compiled the following info for those that wish to (if you're denied a job or credit, you're elibable to free report):
credit report info [artoo.net].

Small things you can do

I've been the victim of identity theft, myself.

In my case, it was an employee of the credit union which I used to bank at. They ordered a duplicate ATM card in my name, and picked it up from my mailbox while I was at work (about five years ago).

While they had the card, they would place fake deposits (empty envelopes) in affiliated credit union ATMs (all CUs in this area share ATM facilities) -- giving as much credit as the 'deposit' was listed as having available for withdrawal immediately -- and the credit union would be none the wiser for almost a week until the deposit slip made it into their hands.

I actually noticed what had happened before the credit union did. I noticed that my available balance was WAY higher than it should have been, but my daily withdrawal limit had been reached.

It took several months, a police report, several meetings with the bank and an indefinite fraud alert on all my credit reports to clear things up. The police began working with the bank. The bank gave me some clues to the effect that they believed it was an internal job -- but I was never able to find out the results of the investigation.

All that said, I make it policy to:

1. Only have vital mail shipped to a *secure* location. This means a locked mailbox, a P.O. box, or at the very least mailed to your work address, where you routinely are during delivery hours.

2. Bitch and moan until I'm blue in the face if I'm anywhere that prints the full number on credit card receipts. If you complain loud enough, even the corner Starbucks will make a call to their merchant account provider and have their unit reprogrammed.

3. I flat-out refuse to give out my Social to anyone, save employers or the government. No-brainer here. Potentially messy when renting an apartment, however.

4. I refuse to allow my ID card to be swiped for verification purposes (my state has a magstrip on licenses with all sorts of personal data), and I also refuse to give out any personal information to sales clerks.

They'll complain like hell at Radio Shack or the local liquor store ('I'm sorry, those are the rules') -- but after they start losing sales because you refuse to comply, they'll soften their corporate stance considerably.

5. I *read* all my bank and card statements, and I know within $10 or so how much I have available in every account. If things look weird, I investigate.

The short of it: identity theft, however big or small can happen to anyone. My practice is to apply some common sense to minimize my exposure -- but, let's face it -- it's easier for a disgruntled waiter to copy down your credit card number than for someone to outright steal your identity.

Be smart. You patch your systems religiously (if you don't and you're on /. you really need to work on your reading comprehension skills). Apply some of that same caution to your identity and personal accounts.

Sacrifice a little convenience (paying cash for dinner) for a little piece of mind, but don't go too overboard. Just be AWARE.

Take it from a former victim

I had my identity stolen in 1995 which resulted in financial catastrophe for me in 1996. Back then, identity theft was a more or less unknown crime and people affected didn't exactly have a willing ear on the other side of the phone.

They finally did catch the person who had found a college transcript in the trash at the Administration building where I was going to college. The school had thrown out a whole bin full of transcripts that didn't print out correctly, but still had social security numbers on them.

The person who stole my identity ran up almost $30,000 in credit card debt, bought two cars, and left me holding the bag. They had changed my address so I wouldn't get the bills, so it was 6 weeks or so before I started calling to find out what was going on. A week of investigating turned up all of these accounts, but it was too late. Even with an open case, the lenders were still unwilling to take the hit and instead put all of the accounts into collections. The credit bureaus were similarly unwilling to listen, and I sat for nearly 7 years (ending this November) with bad credit items that were not mine.

So, here's what I did to protect my identity ex post facto:

1) ALWAYS choose one of the following options:
a) Elect to receive online statements INSTEAD of paper
b) Buy a really good cross shredder that has a split bin, so any given piece of paper ends up split between two different trash bags.

It is always better not to have important identity-related documents mailed to your home. A PO box is much better.

2) NEVER carry your social security card or use your social security number for anything other than the administration of your social security account. It is actually against the law to use the SS# for any purpose other than to maintian your SS account. Get a TIN number instead.

3) NEVER allow the state to use your social security number for your drivers' license. Since it also has your address and birthday, it's like carrying Carte Blanc for an identity thief

4) Have checking accounts at more than one bank and split your paycheck direct deposit between the two. This isn't so much to protect your identity, but more to have a backup in case one of your accounts is compromised. (I actually have three)

5) Never ever ever ever ever give your account information to ANYONE, EVER. If you're filling out an application on paper for a loan, just write "SEE CREDIT REPORT." There is absolutely no reason for anyone to ask you to write down your account information when you're applying for a loan. Remember, anything that you put on a piece of paper that is not under your complete control is ammunition against you. In general, you should never be filling out paper applications for credit anymore.

6) Get a Sharpie and write "CHECK ID" in the signature panel AND ACROSS THE FRONT of all of your credit cards. This is obvious. Cards with your photo are a neat option, but are usually ignored. Here's the important part: if someone does NOT ask for ID, get their manager and make a HUGE stink about it. Hold up the checkout line while you ream him/her out for 10 minutes about identity and credit card theft. Teach them a lesson about paying attention.

7) Demand that your creditors ask for a password or PIN from anyone who calls customer service. If they will not, close the account and find a lender who will. They do exist.

8) Get Steganos Security Suite (Windows) or use an encrypted filesystem (Linux) if you use your PC to maintain your financial records. Of course, linux is the better solution, but hey, not everyone runs it.

9) This is a new one, but in some places, the credit bureaus allow you to put a "HOLD" on your credit report. This causes the bureau to require your direct intervention to allow your report to be released to a lender. This is expensive ($40 for the hold, and $30 for each release, I think), but worth it if you are at risk of identity theft.

Now, I know the Security Weenie section of the Slashd

Simple solution

Just steal someone else's identity first. Then an identity thief who targets you will get the wrong one.

Don't carry your SSN

Tip: Don't carry your Social Security number in your wallet. If your wallet is lost or stolen, the thief would have everything needed for any credit application, since your name, address, and birthday are on your driver's license.

Note that most health insurance companies put your SSN on your health insurance cards. If you're paranoid that you'll end up in the emergency room and they won't treat you because they can't find your insurance card, then make up a card with the carrier's name, the policy number, and a list of phone numbers of emergency contacts.

I won't bore you with the saga of my friend who had her identity stolen. It would sound like an urban legend. The theft not only resulted in horrible damage to her credit report (that lasted for seven years), but trouble with the law (because the theives bought a car that was used for drug running under her name) and hassles from the IRS (because her SSN was sold to others who were employed with her name and SSN, making it look like my friend had not reported income). All of this happened because of a purse-snatching.