ID thieves beware mad sk1llz

May 29, 2006 7:00 AM

Geek tracks down identity thieves via luck and persistence. What should you do?
posted by roue (25 comments total)

That's incredibly cool, if it's true. Good on the guy for taking action.
posted by WidgetAlley at 7:23 AM on May 29, 2006

Once again, the Web proves that no matter how positive and/or interesting your story is, there's always someone who decides to be a dick. One person in his comments berates him for being arrogant, and another just says "you had it coming you fat whore."
posted by L. Fitzgerald Sjoberg at 7:49 AM on May 29, 2006

Wow. Amazing.
posted by divabat at 8:03 AM on May 29, 2006

Not a call-out, but that article in the first link is over a year old. I keep thinking it's already been linked, but couldn't find it.
posted by slater at 8:09 AM on May 29, 2006

one's identity cannot be stolen. your credit cards, documentation, credentials and identification can be stolen, you can be impersonated. all of the above are fraud and have been around forever. why do we suddenly have this new crime called "identity theft"? because it's scarier sounding. oh, and because 9/11 changed everything. *rolls eyes*
posted by quonsar at 8:16 AM on May 29, 2006 [1 favorite]

Once again, the Web proves that no matter how positive and/or interesting your story is, there's always someone who decides to be a dick.
posted by [insert clever name here] at 8:18 AM on May 29, 2006

I didn't realize quite how old it was when I posted it, but couldn't find it in the archive either. It feels alot like the p-p-p-p-owerbook story. When I was a kid I used to run a (K2NE Citadel) BBS and we'd have an annual 'BBS awards' every summer for the 5 or 10 systems running nearby in South Jersey. Things got a little tense one evening when one of the guys who showed up was in trouble for dumpster diving credit card receipts and another guy had been one of his victems. Didn't see that guy around for a looong while after that. Small world, as you might expect from southern New Jersey.
posted by roue at 8:22 AM on May 29, 2006

Metafilter: there's always someone who decides to be a dick
posted by PenDevil at 8:31 AM on May 29, 2006

Metafilter: You had it coming you fat whore.
posted by jimfl at 8:36 AM on May 29, 2006

quonsar: "one's identity cannot be stolen. [...] why do we suddenly have this new crime called "identity theft"? "

Eh? Sure your official/legal/financial/bureacratic identity can be stolen or appropriated. It's more common now that we increasingly rely on digital technology to identify us, but I think that's been called identity theft for a while before the WTC attacks, and outside of America (but I can't be bothered to look it up). For instance, this film was made in 1995 (admittedly, I don't remember it using that phrase exactly).
posted by Drexen at 8:37 AM on May 29, 2006

I think calling it identity theft is just a nod to the fact that when someone has your SSN, DOB, Account numbers, Mother's Maiden name, address, phone number, etc, s/he can effectively impersonate you. I mean, think about it. I called up my credit card companies had just had my name changed and a new card sent out based solely on being able to provide the above information. They didn't want a copy of my new DL, no copy of the marriage license, nothing. Just a phone call. It's frighteningly easy. And it's made more so because whenever you call your bank, your credit card company, whatever, you absolutely *never* get the same person. Maybe you're lucky enough that it's a small customer service department (not typically) and the ten or fifteen agents who all know one another would catch on that Chris Smith suddenly became female, but probably not.
posted by Medieval Maven at 8:52 AM on May 29, 2006

I keep thinking it's already been linked, but couldn't find it.

I think it was on Kottke or Waxy when it happened. I've definitely read it before but I don't think it was here.
posted by dobbs at 8:53 AM on May 29, 2006

Someone linked their cell phone billing to my checking account, and by the time I noticed it they had charged about $500. The bank just refunded my account, and didn't even bother tracking the guy down, and they had his phone number and name. "Not worth the time" they said.

So I guess that turned out to be a win-win situation.
posted by StickyCarpet at 8:56 AM on May 29, 2006

If anyone is interested, he's put up the police reports up for download.
posted by divabat at 9:00 AM on May 29, 2006

Not a call-out, but that article in the first link is over a year old. I keep thinking it's already been linked, but couldn't find it.

Me too. Keep in mind, LJ has in that time changed their URL scheme from http://livejournal.com/users/exampleusername/123456.html to http://exampleusername.livejournal.com/123456.html, so the URL catcher may not have caught it. At any rate, I know I've seen it before, I just can't find it on MeFi.
posted by Eideteker at 9:34 AM on May 29, 2006

.
posted by russilwvong at 9:38 AM on May 29, 2006

why do we suddenly have this new crime called "identity theft"? because it's scarier sounding. oh, and because 9/11 changed everything. *rolls eyes*

I think identity theft is a reasonable description of the crime and not overly hyperbolic. Either way, it's naming is not post 9/11 hysteria-- the term has been around longer. Example.
posted by justkevin at 1:44 PM on May 29, 2006

I called up my credit card companies had just had my name changed and a new card sent out based solely on being able to provide the above information.

Reminds me of an excellent extrapolative short story where, in the future, you are your access codes. Who am I? I am the person who knows ____.
posted by dreamsign at 2:11 PM on May 29, 2006

extrapolative

Is this how defensive skiffy fans write it now?
posted by kenko at 2:49 PM on May 29, 2006

Quonsar,

I can't back this up and am too lazy to google it, but the other day my poetry professor told me that the idea of 'identity' as being our "essence" or "who we are" is fairly new and sort of an invention of the 20th century; he cited Ellison's "Invisible Man" as the first example of "identity" being used to mean something other than one's identification which he said was all the term meant prior to that time. I found that really interesting, and wonder if maybe that's why it's referred to as "identity theft".
posted by nonmerci at 3:38 PM on May 29, 2006

I had my information stolen about three years ago. I only found out when American Express called and I don't have an American Express account. Turns out this woman only had my Social Security number, but she got more credit than I thought I was entitled to! And as for Capital One's claims that they are so protective over your identity? They pulled up three accounts-two mine and one she opened-using just my SS number. Didn't the different names and address clue them in? Apparantly not. She had gas cards, and even actually paid on two of them-so the police had canceled checks, but did nothing. I had everything cleared up, more or less. Six months ago I got another call from American Express-based on the old charges. Again I had to fax the police report and papers I'd filled out. I hope this doesn't keep happening over the years.
posted by annieb at 4:21 PM on May 29, 2006

I was thinking that this story sounded familiar... oh yeah, it is 2005-03-24.
posted by tomplus2 at 5:47 PM on May 29, 2006

you ever see eroll morris's film "the thin blue line" all you need is the hads of a master film-maker and you got a gret short movie there. though probably in the end you have to go in the room yourself. yeah i am seeinga sort of david lynch thing going on. nice one!
posted by bernardrudden at 12:40 AM on May 30, 2006

Is this how defensive skiffy fans write it now?

I think they go for "speculative". This wasn't particularly sci-fi in that the futuristic elements were basically window dressing. But yeah, it does have the sound of the new term of choice, doesn't it?
posted by dreamsign at 8:53 AM on May 30, 2006

What should you do?

Slit his throat and leave quietly.
posted by sluglicker at 12:02 PM on May 30, 2006