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Back to the Forum Archives In this essay I want to tell you abut a neat new innovation to help thwart identity theft. First let's look at some background to highlight the problem we are trying to fix. It seems identity theft is fast becoming the crime of choice in America. This is a situation where someone gets access to and uses another person's personal information. The purpose is usually to use the victim's credit to obtain goods without having to pay for them. The damage this does to the victim is often devastating. A good citizen suddenly finds himself being hounded by creditors as his own good credit is being ruined. Recovery from the damage of identity theft can be next to impossible. This is because the powers of our world, until now, have turned a blind eye to the problem. They have not taken it seriously even though it effectively destroys the victim's life. In a Gaffer's Philosophy essay I said, in my opinion those convicted of identity theft would never get out of prison. They are stealing something so precious that it is a crime equivalent to rape and murder. It is a violation of our very person. Our identity is who and what we are. It is as close to sacred as anything we have. It is the sum of our life. There are a number of reasons this crime is growing so rapidly. The big reason is because it is so easy. It is made easy by the lack of discipline and concern by a number of parties. First, we cannot set aside the culpability of the victim. Most of us, until we have been burned are outrageously careless about our personal information. We give out credit information as though it were no more valuable than toilet paper. Okay, so we are all culpable. Beyond that, there are other dishonesties involved. Now the government is getting interested because there are so many reported cases. They want to do something about it. They say law enforcement is way behind on catching up with identity theft. I suspect that's because they have not even been trying. Now, that may be changing, but it needs a great deal of cooperation amongst many agencies and businesses. One problem we have already revealed is the Swiss cheese vulnerability and lack of concern of the United States Postal Service. Our essay in the Forum on Crooks and Bureaucrats by Willie Gaffer spelled this out when we were threatened with the possibility of identity theft. It turned out the USPS did not, and still does not, care about mail tampering. They just cannot be bothered. I think we will need some changes in law to turn those civil servants into community assets again. In Michigan we have noticed that our Attorney General, Jim Cox is making noises as though he were doing something about this problem. I don't know if he is up for election in 2004 or not. For now, I will believe in his good intentions if not his plan. Without the cooperation and input of the USPS, the Federal Government, and the credit industry, even with the best of intentions, he cannot have much effect. In addition to the USPS problem we need some better control of the credit industry. We need to make the credit card companies liable for heavy damages when they give credit cards to any person in someone else's name. We must stop them from sending partially filled out credit applications containing personal information through the mail. We should also stop them from sending blank checks with personal information through the mail. I personally shred dozens of those things every month to keep them from getting into the hands of criminals. The facts are, the credit industry knows what's happening. Identity theft could not occur without their active participation. It is time that we made them liable for their actions. Now, at least one outfit is beginning to take it seriously and they are acting. This is the Citicard group. I'm sure most people have seen their ads on the tube. These are meant to make us aware of the problem, I suppose. If that were all they were doing I would not be impressed. In fact, they are doing something a great deal more to the point. They are putting a huge plug in the Internet personal information leak. I have put this new tool to use and it works as advertised. All I had to do was go to the Citicard website and create an identity that is associated with my credit card account. Next, I downloaded some Citicard software to my computer. What the software does is generate a random card number that is good for one, and only one, purchase. Then it becomes invalid. The number is associated with my account, only at the Citicard website, nowhere else. Now ,whenever I go to make an online purchase, I do it the same as I always have. I go to the online merchant's site, select my items and go to checkout. Then I do all of the regular things until it's time for the credit information. When the merchant's credit information screen appears the Citicard software is invoked. I enter my Citicard ID and password and invoke the number generator. A 16 character virtual number is generated that looks just like a regular credit card number. The only difference is, it's not my number, it's just a random number. I just drag and drop that phony number into the merchant's form and finish the purchase. It's that simple. Once the purchase is made the generated number becomes invalid and my real credit card number is never revealed. I just got this setup recently. I have only used it three times, but I know it works. Two of the items I ordered have already been delivered. I have not seen the credit statement yet, but I am confident that they will get that part right. I think this is an idea whose time has come. I suspect, if
other companies are not doing it they will begin doing it soon.
If not they will be out of the competition. This is a good step,
but only a step. As I said, the merchants, the USPS, and the
rest of our government agencies have to start taking identity
theft seriously. Hopefully, they will follow the lead of the
Citicard group.
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