At the risk of opening a can of worms, this is a legitimate inquiry.
I am trying to separate the identity fraud hype from actual risk in the now
more common sense of electronic data stolen online or from a database - not my
uncle Joe filled out a credit app as his dog.. :)
The situation is stolen electronic data: such as name, address, and ssn ? one
or one million records.
Does anyone know themselves or can direct me to a place that can explain what a
malicious person actually does with stolen personal information? Or, can anyone
explain a realistic situation where the thief can prosper and get away with it?
I am looking for a scenario that actually or logically works, not generic
conventional wisdom like, ?they use it to open accounts in their name and buy
houses and vacations and things, and, er, stuff?? - The problem is that I can
not seem to get my head around more then a couple of petty situations that
would only work for misc charges, and for a very short period of time - not
major purchases like a home, or car, and certainly not anything larger scale
that would require thousands of identities.
Sure I realize that I could open an account at a bank, but why on earth would I
do that? How could I possibly benefit from that without tipping off where I
live, or some point of where I will be?
Also, are there really people that will buy this information at $75 a record?
Or, is that just an FBI agent placing an ad in 2600 waiting for some idiot to
respond? And if these people do buy this information, what on earth are they
doing with it? There are by now hundreds of millions of stolen records out
there. There are free tools that will create valid credit card numbers, and the
information as to what makes a real ssn is published for verification checking
(I know that does not make it real, but come on), etc, so why would anyone pay?
It just doesn?t make sense to me.
After spending years protecting this information, I have never heard any
realistic scenarios that wouldn?t simply lead the cops to the person?s front
door. I have heard plenty of Hollywood movie plots and academic what if?s,
which is what I theorize created the hype in the first place?
Perhaps it?s a testament to how lousy our law enforcement is, or my apparent
lack of ability to think like a smart crook, or perhaps these crimes are being
committed by idiots, but I tend to think that there is more hype then actual
risk out there?It almost seems more akin to the ?I?m in, here?s proof?
situation rather than trading databases of socials for a fist full of dollars..
Thanks,
