Talk:Identity theft

message: All you need is a database, , you put in a password, you generate a specialized ID for a service, you give the service the specialized ID, if the ID gets used for anything else, you can track the ID's use and apprehend the person. That's all you need to end this problem. The utilization of multiple forms of static ID's is why it can occur. All you need is a random set of those ID's, and you can open any selection of services in someone else's name.. And the police department (in America) will not pursue cases that don't have "suspects". Obviously the government is attacking the problem from the wrong end. 
Fix the ID system..   — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.201.173.189 (talk) 21:08, 16 October 2012 (UTC)
replies: text: Ronald Reagan campaigned and won saying the GOVERNMENT was the problem, not the solution. Neat idea you have, but for individuals and private industry, not the government. -- AstroU (talk) 16:12, 5 January 2015 (UTC)
replies: text: Simplistic. What happens if you lose your password, or forget it, or somebody else guesses or steals it? What if somebody manages to intercept your personal data between you and the database and change it so that they can use it? It is called Identity Theft for a good reason, somebody else steals your personal information and then uses that information to impersonate you. Identity Theft is not simply theft of identity information for a service, it is an act of another person masquerading as if they were you; they take on the identity that should be uniquely your own. Nobody else should be able to possess it. The question is how do you prove you are uniquely you? Even twins have identical DNA, so there is no single method that is 100% foolproof. - Cameron Dewe (talk) 11:21, 13 March 2021 (UTC)
thread_title:  It would be pretty easy to fix ID theft 

message: hello. Ref. 4 is not reachable. regards.   —Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.202.108.228 (talk) 19:56, 21 February 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: outdated references

message: Didn't we used to call this fraud? 83.245.26.153 07:51, 8 December 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: ...and revealing the activities undertaken by the thief under the name of the victim would have serious consequences like loss of job or marriage.
Yeah, marriage sounds like a pretty serious consequence... ;) - furrykef (Talk at me) 06:58, 7 Mar 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: comment

message: Probably some smartass vandal, but the phrase
:If you live in the UK none of the above are required, you can simply wait for the government to lose your sensitive data and for it to fall into the hands of identity fraudsters. [9] This is far from limited to the UK exclusively though.
looks glaringly less than objective. It's been referenced though, I haven't looked at the reference.. is it necessary to keep that little rant in the article? 124.177.178.52 14:54, 4 December 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Techniques for obtaining information 

message: does any one know the actual consequences, like fines or jail time, foe offenders? i'm doing a school thing and i would appreciate it if any one had any info over the subject to contact me at (jcarlisle@stu.shilder.k12.ok.us) please, any relevant information is welcome!
thanks, jo
:Jo, the only reference I could find that specifically mentions penalties is :http://www.usdoj.gov/criminal/fraud/idtheft.html. Go to the section marked "What's The Department Of Justice Doing About Identity Theft And Fraud?"
:Also - on a discussion page, when you put a comment in, click on the 'signature' button at the top of the edit box (third from left, looks like 'running writing'). This will put your name and a timestamp on your entry like this >>> --Nickj69 07:32, 27 June 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Help needed 

message: I'd like to put some of the criticism of the term back in, ideally along with information on how it came into wide use. The major issue is not just that identities can't be stolen, but the term changes the perceived victim of crime. What could be seen as a crime against, e.g. bank, now becomes a crime against the person being impersonated, and therefore apparently less the bank's responsibility to prevent and deal with.
I can think of two critics of the term right now: Ross Anderson, in Security Engineering, p 32. See 
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ILaY4jBWXfcC&pg=PA32&lpg=PA32
and following Anderson's reference, What Price Privacy? (and why identity theft is about neither identity nor theft).
by Adam Shostack and Paul Syverson.
In Economics of Information Security, Chapter 11, Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2004.
Also Mitchell and Webb explained it nicely in a radio sketch. I think you might even be able to justify having a separate article on the term "Identity Theft", as separate from the activity, except that Wikipedia has no neat way to do that.
sorsoup (talk) 18:32, 4 December 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Good idea.  Victims tend to panic and think "it's all on them" to clean up the results, letting the banks off the hook.  --CliffC (talk) 20:14, 4 December 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Proposal

message: Since I was on a roll, I decided to do a rewrite.  I've tried to source more information and I have removed everything that was argumentative, speculative or unverified. I've also done some copy-editing and added some more country specific information. It would be good if someone could proof it for me and correct any mistakes. --Nickj69 13:37, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Not a bad rewrite; it certainly needed it in parts. However, I notice that some useful content has been removed, particularly in relation to the reasons behind identity theft, and how to protect against it. I think we should retain reference to one of the major reasons - too many organisations holding too much personal information in an insecure manner. Witness the recent theft of personal data from HSBC in India. Examples related to this are where commercial organisations require copies of passports and the like, and the insatiable desire of most companies to collect irrelevant personal information. Ways to protect yourself - don't provide the information to these companies. This obvious point should be included. Arcturus 18:54, 30 June 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Whole-heartedly agree. But, I wasn't able to find a decent ref to cover it. Perhaps you could add something with a reference to the news item you mention? --Nickj69 11:12, 1 July 2006 (UTC)

text:  I'd suggest that it should include something generic, but not try and take the place of websites or government organisations doing the job. Feel free to jump in an add something but take time to read what's been written here so you understand what's gone before. Happy editing. --Nickj69 09:16, 22 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I'd suggest point readers to sources of information on how to protect one-self from identity theft. Evidently this kind of information has already been removed from Wikipedia, as discussed in a section below, so simply directing people to other sources seems like a good alternative. --97.90.125.162 (talk) 02:23, 10 May 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Major Rewrite 

message: Reverted banned users edits. Please add back high quality edits under your own user name. Thanks, --FloNight talk 20:27, 11 July 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Reverted banned users edits 

message: I've noticed that this article has been edited numerous times by anonymous IP editors, and reverted pretty much every time. While not clearly falling under the 3RR, it does seem like a good candidate for semi-protection, so that people who want to add their links will at least have a few days to become familiar with the Wikipedia Community standards first, to know that spam links are inappropriate, etc. Dansiman 22:32, 13 August 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: It's vandalized no more than some of the popular articles school children find attractive.  I think temporarily blocking offending IP addresses should prove sufficient warning.  These same IP addresses tend to SPAM more than this one article.  Rklawton 01:24, 14 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Should this article be semi-protected? 

message: Nickj69, Amplmado Acturus, RKlawton. Bryan – Your struggle in associating criminal activity with the term "identity theft" is not unsual. You are not alone. Most thinking deeply about the issue and criminal fraud investigators with even a modicum of experience struggle with the term alongside you. 
We struggle because the term “identity theft” is truly a misnomer. It is an ill-conceived, albeit popular, phrase that has become entrenched in North American - much to the chagrin of Europeans. Rhetoric on the plethora of North American web sites and in the media tends to focus on a single segment of the much broader issue of all "identification-based crime". I carefully choose the term “identification-based”, because the actual crime drawing attention more often than not is a criminal activity that happens to involve the misappropriated use of someone else's personal identification particulars. The crimes range from dead-beat dads avoiding their financial obligations, to stock market manipulation, money laudering and terrorism - to mention a few.   
The actual offence for using someone’s personal identification particulars for an illegal purpose in America may be found in the U.S. Code, Title 18, Part I, Chapter 43, False Personation. The Canadian equilant is Personation, Sec. 403 of the Criminal Code of Canada. In all likelihood the Europeans have a similar offence.
I found a particularly enlightening paper prepared for U.K. Cabinet Office [July 2002], "Identity Fraud: A Study" [www.identitycards.gov.uk/downloads/id_fraud-report.pdf.]. The article asserts that the term "identity” triggers discussion at the philosophical and psychological levels. 
This U.K. paper lists three basic elements to a human "identity": biometrics, biographical information and legal attribution [kindly note my contribution to the original U.K. terminology]. This distinction becomes important to problem solvers - in particular those in law and regulatory enforcement intent on identifying the root causes of crimes. At the least the appropriate term may be "identification" - as in "identification documents" and not identity documents.
Using the term “theft” may equally present its unqiue set of problems. It implies the unauthorized deprivation of use of one's property - or something to that effect. It will take a better legal mind than mine to debate that personal identification particulars are property under the definitions afforded it in common-law penal codes. Perhaps this is why the drafters of the Identity Theft Assumption and Deterrence Act [2003] proposed amendments to Title 18, Part I, Chapter 27, s.1028 of the U.S. Code, which concerns “Fraud and False Statements.”  
“Embezzlement and Theft” are addressed in Chapter 31. 
As best as I can determine, the terminology emerged somewhere in the mid 1990s in reaction to consumer complaints lodged with the Federal Trade Commission about the use of their personal identification particulars to obtain cash and/or merchandize. This crime is dependent upon linking personal identification particulars and social security number with a credit history in good standing maintained by credit-rating services. My personal choice of terms would be to refer to this particular phenomenon as a “credit-dependent” financial crime.  
How credit card and debit card fraud got into the “identity-theft” mix is beyond me. Credit and debit cards aren’t classified as identification documents. They are defined in the U.S. Code as access devices [Title 18, Part I, Chapter 47, s. 1029]. Credit cards have their own offence sections in Canadian law as well. I don't know about England or Continental Europe.  
None-the-less I don’t think the term can be altered in North America, at least not in the short run. Perhaps Wikipedia is a perfect venue to leave the caption in tact, because at least that's what most North American's would search under, and then to clarify what using the term represents in law.
Graeme R. Newman attempts to address this challenge in his “Identity Theft” guide for The Center on Problem-oriented Policing [www.popcenter.org/Problems/problem-identity_theft.htm]. He distinguished financial crimes from concealment crimes, perhaps in a struggle to squeeze the broader base of identification-based crimes into the “identity-theft” terminology. 
Particularly noteworthy as well is Mr. Newman’s distinction in describing prevention strategies between “personal guardianship” and “agency guardianship”. If the Wikipedia site is to describe what consumers need to do to protect their personal information, perhaps it should also discuss the "agency guardianship" commitments required by governments and corporations, which house large volumes of personal information. The Privacy Rights Clearing House listing of reported exposures of data in America is staggering.
My first instinct was to edit the Wikipedia site on “identity theft”. I have noted and honour the concern about the number of edits already undertaken. Thought perhaps it best to consult all before moving forward. [alternation_jrl]
24.226.90.12 00:12, 1 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  Jump in! All of your observations seem to be on the money and you have verifiable references. Try and keep it concise, cite your sources and be ready for some (positive!) feedback from other editors. --Nickj69 09:25, 22 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Incorrectly Labeled World Phenomenon Generating Confusion 

message: Between advice on how to avoid and how to response to ID theft, this article is in danger of violating Wikipedia is not an instruction manual.  A lot of this may need to go.  Robert A.West (Talk) 14:59, 24 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Well let's amend the policy then. After all, at Wikipedia we can "be bold", can't we? I don't have a problem with the sections mentioned and would suggest they stay. However, after bleating on about this article being too US-centric, I now see someone has made parts of it too UK-centric. We shouldn't really have references to websites, telephone numbers and the like that assume only people from the country in question are reading the article. Also "If you've been a victim of Identity Theft" - no, it's the financial institutions that are the victims. We need to re-phrase this. Incidentally, in a funny sort of way it pleases me no end that financial institutions are the victims, because they are the ultimate cause of it. Arcturus 22:40, 17 December 2006 (UTC)

text: Keep on it.  I see no reason to make an exception to policy just for this article.  Rklawton 20:56, 15 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  How-to Alert 

message: I think the challenge we face is writing a feature on something that doesn't exist - "identity theft". As best as I can determine the term came to life when privacy rights advocates expressed concern on behalf of consumers about credit-dependent crime. The Federal Trade Commission picked up on it, started to use it, and now it has become common parlance. We can't change the word. The danger is that people thinking theft may not consider fraud interventions in reducing the opportunity to commit identification fraud. I removed references to credit-rating services in recognizing that orginal research breaks the Wikipedia rules. Bruce Schneier writes a lot about the dangers in the centralization of information. Security may be good, but it is never perfect. When there is a security breach it is huge, sometimes tens of thousands of sets of personal identifiers. I too would like to see the "how to sections" removed from the Wikipedia site. People can get this from the FTC or any number of other sources.
--76.244.68.147 (talk) 22:39, 31 July 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Instructional Manual Comment 

message: Would it make more sense: a) to put the term in italics - which would be very repetitive, or b) simply capitalize the term and to state that it is a proper name given to a particular genre of identification-based crime? We capitalize given names, surnames, city names etc? What do English majors think? 
I would not want to be a police officer or some other person in authority testifying in a court of law that I arrested a suspect for "identity theft". That could get a little uncomfortable in cross examination with astute legal representation. 
None-the-less the term has become the stuff of pop culture. It is here to stay. We can't negate the importance of consumers becoming more aware about abuses of their personal information and the exploitation of their credit-worthiness. On the other hand, problem-solvers [e.g. www.popcenter.org] recognize that the term is misleading. In considering how to identify and address the root causes off all crime that incluces a forged means of identification, there is insufficient research to determine which is the higher risk exposure - personal guardianship or agency guardianship [see Privacy Rights Clearing House: A Chronology of Data Breaches]. The problem with concealment crime is that it is very difficult to measure, where with credit-dependent crime we know within a few months and the statistics are centrally gathered.
Therefore, should our efforts in Wikipedia on this topic expressly limit the use of the term to describe a topic that exploits the credit-worthiness of consumers to commit fraud? Consumers, privacy rights advocates and the press are locked onto the term. It cannot be changed. 24.226.90.12 14:33, 11 March 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Can't say I've seen them - were they on Channel 4 or ITV? 86.31.72.30 16:27, 3 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  To Capitalize or not to capitalize 

message: This article is one of the worst examples in Wikipedia of US-centrism. Most of the article is really from a US perspective and the whole thing should be renamed Identity theft (USA). Then a new article called Identity theft could be created which would give a world view on the subject. As it stands this article is of limited use to anyone outside the US. 86.31.78.1 16:21, 19 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Rename this article 

message: I work for the America's Most Wanted Safety Center, a new branch of America's Most Wanted getting away from the capturing of criminals, and branching out to all aspects of safety. I feel a link to our post about identity theft would be appropriate and mutually beneficial, being that America's Most Wanted has already educated millions of Americans about it on television. The link is http://www.amw.com/safety/?p=144 please consider it.
Jrosenfe 14:10, 22 June 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Adding a link 

message: I'd be interested to see discussion here of how it is that "bank fraud" was transmuted into "identity theft", with the underlying assumption that if a bank halfway across the country hands a criminal money based on a social security number and a birthdate, that it's somehow the fault of the person mimicked rather than the gullible banker.  This seems an exceptionally striking example of the re-engineering of public perceptions to turn the problems of the wealthy into the responsibility of the poor. 70.15.116.59 (talk) 18:53, 21 November 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  How was this term promoted? 

message: I edited this section because I thought it did not reflect how hard protecting personal data can be.  The original wording sounded a little like "she shouldn't have worn that short skirt" to me, but I am an ID theft victim myself so if I'm too biased please feel free to fix it.
My personal feeling is that ID Theft is what used to be just called fraud, but the information age and the rise of information brokers and large government databases have tended to throw the consequences of the fraud onto the person being impersonated. I'd like to see some addition to address this, if I can find a good reference.  Also, there is not much mention in here of the role of fake or illegally obtained IDs .  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Afpre (talk • contribs) 14:37, 18 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Edited Individual identity protection 

message: Second sentence of article "The most common form of identity theft is credit card fraud.". No. Credit card fraud is FRAUD, straight and simple. It's NOT identity theft. This is the type of statement used by governments to over-inflate the occurrence of identity theft. I suggest we remove this sentence. 86.27.59.185 (talk) 11:08, 26 January 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I think there's some ambiguity about what constitutes Identity theft.  I'd agree that making unauthorized charges to someone else's credit card s better described as credit card fraud rather than identity theft, however actually opening a new credit  account would probably qualify.  The "spread and impact" section states "Confusion over exactly what constitutes identity theft has led to claims that statistics may be exaggerated.", and the first sentence in the article describes it as a "catch all phrase".  Perhaps the statement in the first paragraph about credit card fraud could be removed and instead include a more detailed discussion about this ambiguity and the different definitions of the term (particularly point out that there is a distinction between the popular definition and the legal definition?).  I'm not sure what the govt's motives for inflating the numbers would be, in the US it is very hard to get authorities to press ID theft charges--Afpre (talk) 13:24, 26 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Credit card fraud 

message: I think a link to the foollowing site is potentially worth doing as it is an assistance to anyone who is worried about Identity Theft and would like to know how to protect themselves in their day to day lives.  http://identity-theft.weebly.com
Scaifea (talk) 16:54, 26 June 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: The editor above placed links to a number of totally unrelated subject to various pages on this weebly.com, a very spammy way to go about it.  I've reverted all the links as spam.  If any of the regulars here think that this link is non-spammy and contributes to the page, great, but for now they are on my spam-radar. - TexasAndroid (talk) 17:02, 26 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Adding another link 

message: I added a short paragraph about identity theft protection services in the U.S. These services have received a lot of attention and I believe some information about them is appropriate and would be welcomed by readers. Let me know if you think otherwise, though... --Wpbl (talk) 20:52, 16 December 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Added to Individual identity protection 

message: I made a quick edit to the bulleted list of how data is obtained since there was one entry that did not fit the format, read rather strangely, and didn't get the point across.  I hope that my addition improves this.  I also added a line regarding the California and Wisconsin Offices of Privacy protection, as these seem to be very good resources for the residents of those states.  I added the links as references since they are state-specific, but they could be links too if others think they'd be valuable.
Jlygrnmigt (talk) 15:43, 8 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: more links?

message: Right now, identity fraud redirects to this page. Fraud and thieft are different concepts that would be worth to separate.
A definition: Identity fraud is a synonym of unlawful identity change. It indicates unlawful activities that use the identity of another person or of a non-existing person as a target or principal tool.
A reference to be added: http://www.business.mcmaster.ca/IDTDefinition/defining/idfraudTCF.htm
If there is not objection, I will make the change soon. --Nabeth (talk) 00:13, 5 March 2009 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, not so easy to sepate the fraud and Theft. (http://www.business.mcmaster.ca/IDTDefinition/defining/idfraudTCF.htm makes a distinction). Fraud appears to be more related to usage of a false identity.--Nabeth (talk) 18:26, 5 March 2009 (UTC)
replies: text:  The OED (online; checked today) makes no distinction. It has an entry draft for "identity theft": "the dishonest acquisition of personal information in order to perpetrate fraud, typically by obtaining credit, loans, etc., in someone else's name; fraud perpetrated in this way; (also) an instance of this." and it has no entry for "identity fraud".  It doesn't deserve its own article (unlike Wireless ~); a section in this one is more than adequate, and sentences 2, 5 & 6 can be moved there.  The issue of whether credit card fraud is generally considered identity theft is more important.  Created: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Articles_for_deletion/Identity_fraud --Elvey (talk) 23:22, 22 October 2009 (UTC)
replies: text:  Well, this is something unclear about the decision of deleting this post. I will not talk about the content (the value of keeping this page) for which I disagree, but about the process this propose for deletion was done. The discussion seems already taken, and I didn't have the time to comment. Besides, nothing was done in the discussion page of the page Identity fraud. What is happening? Can someone look at this and check if there is some abuse here? Thanks --Nabeth (talk) 08:25, 23 October 2009 (UTC)
replies: text:  I am very confused. What has exactly happened with this AfD. It seem to indicate keep? Can an administrator look at this if this is not some form of vandalism or abuse (about the way the process was done)? Thanks. --Nabeth (talk) 08:31, 23 October 2009 (UTC)
replies: text:  Ok. If I understand, the result, the result was a speedy close, since the request for AfD was not considered as valid. Hopefully the "message" article for deletion will disappear soon (Note: and real discussion on the subject or keeping / modifying this article, may be done on the discussion page of this article). --Nabeth (talk) 08:54, 23 October 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Identity fraud to be created 

message: As referenced by the Wireless identity theft article tag: "It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Identity theft. (Discuss)"
Oppose: due to the amount of detail in both topics, it would be counterproductive to the parent article (this one) to merge the two. --HarryZilber (talk) 15:09, 19 May 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Proposal to merge this article with ''<b>Wireless identity theft</b>'' 

message: Sorry, I do not understand why the section 'Cultural references' was removed with the message 'obscurity trim'.
For me it does not look obscure at all, and besides I find the content useful (anchor 'Identity theft' to ciméma and literrature).
Having say that, there may be some very legitimate reasons (not enough notability?) to remove this part.
Note:
I have never contributed in this section, and therefore I believe I am neutral on this.
Best regards --Nabeth (talk) 14:58, 9 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Section 'Cultural references' removed (with obscurity trim) 

message: Should be nixed, IMO.  With 2% of the public having their ID stolen, this would be an unmanageably huge list.  If the info is interesting, it should be worked in elsewhere.  I feel the info has no value, so even that isn't needed. --Psrq (talk) 20:34, 27 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Famous Victims 

message: This article needs to be recycled, and I do not mind personally that some content is removed.
However if it is done, in particular from an anonymous user, it could be good to have an explanation, so as to really know if this is not vandalism. Please, if you do it, do not be afraid (from me) to changes things, but in the case you do it (even as an anonymous account), can you please provide an explanation? Thanks.
--Nabeth (talk) 16:19, 29 September 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Blanking some section without explanation 

message: The problem with Identity theft if you read my main comment at the very top is that it doesn't even have to happen in the first place. It occurs because institutions require different signs of identity and any of those can be replicated. The solution is to give each institution a special identity that is signed (with strong encryption) and is logged at a trusted ID holder, preferably the US government. It should be as simple as logging into a site like google, obtaining a unique ID, giving the institution (needing the proof) the unique ID .. They only need to validate it against the government's database. All the institution that receives the unique and qualified ID would need to know is that this ID verifiably is referenced in the government databases and leads to picture, address, and other such information of the ID holder. In fact, you could divulge everything, even information about your facebook, and such to the public. The key to this "working" is that you have a login and password and you keep the login and password private, and who here finds that difficult? Everytime you need to get a credit card or other such service, you only need to login, obtain a specialized ID, annotate what the ID is for, and then get the unique qualified ID, and give it to the institution..  
Better yet would be to make it so that every institution publishes a promotional service code, and that that can be used to register the specialized ID, so that the link between the ID and the use is stronger. The more loosely you associate ID's, the easier ID theft is.. It's like a chain, would you rather have one point of failure or multiple points of failure? 99.45.96.255 (talk) 17:50, 28 October 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  The first politician to pick up on the '''SOLUTION''' is the one who will be revered as a saviour from ID theft to many 

message: to be understood as a suggestion:
Nicknapping seems to become the term to describe identity theft to act as another person in the web (forums, social web). It seems to be worth to add the term in the article (?). focus_mankind (focus_mankind) 17:18, 8 January 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  nicknapping 

message: I have added some information from the new CIFAS report about the mount of ID theft that occured in the UK in 2009. My grammer is not 100% great so someone might wish to check it.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.26.23.81 (talk) 16:02, 3 February 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Identity Theft In The UK 

message: why is there a debate on the probability of being a victim here?  this is introducing bias immediately and shouldn't be done.  after the government accountability office study, the remaining needs to be moved out Yourmanstan (talk) 18:01, 8 February 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, the quote misrepresents the findings of the GAO study, for starters. The GAO report concluded that "Determining the link between data breaches and identity theft is challenging, primarily because identity theft victims often do not know how their personal information was obtained,"  I would add that where one exists, such a link is rarely detected.  Only data breaches resulting in successful investigations can uncover such a link, and such successes are the rare exception.  --Elvey (talk) 20:19, 18 May 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Introductory Paragraph 

message: The article implied that identity fraud is rarely the result of data breaches; I've modified it to remove this invalid implication.
The http://www.heinz.cmu.edu/research/241full.pdf paper has some major errors; As noted, it is unpublished. IMO, this is for good reason. • Aside from a slew of basic grammatical errors, it fails to consider that • a great many breaches go unreported, or that • breach notification laws lead to the discovery of breaches.  • It confabulates the percentage of ID theft connected with a reported breach with the percentage of ID theft that resulted from a breach.  This confabulation, IMO, results in unwarranted conclusions.  • A consumer is far more likely to be able to connect an incident of ID theft to their stolen wallet than to a breach that remained undetected or unreported. A consumer cannot connect an incident of ID theft to a breach that is undetected or unreported.  • Its main conclusion is unwarranted because it is reached through a 'Comparison of reported identity theft rates by states with and without law' that does not consider:
#that national firms that notify customers because of such laws generally notify all the affected customers, not just those in states with such laws or
#that national firms that improve security because of such laws generally do so in general, e.g. at their main offices, not just those in states with such laws.   --Elvey (talk) 20:19, 18 May 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  We have pretty much no idea what fraction of ID theft is the result of company security breaches 

message: ...is full of trivial references to "identity theft".  Now, I can see the notability of Michelle Brown's story:  true story, high profile, made into a film.  Also, Catch Me If You Can is the same.  However, this article does not need to list all the times fiction has depicted identity theft; I don't see anything particularly notable or helpful to the reader informing them that Family Guy joked about identity theft.  —Onore Baka Sama(speak | stalk) 17:47, 9 November 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Do you mean the section titled Cultural references: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_theft#Cultural_references Ottawahitech (talk) 04:28, 21 November 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Popular culture section... 

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thread_title: File:Poster - To Be or Not to Be 01.jpg Nominated for Deletion

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just added archive links to  on Identity theft. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add  after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add  to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/20080516094455/http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/downloads/synovate_report.pdf to http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/downloads/synovate_report.pdf
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Cheers. —cyberbot IITalk to my owner:Online 01:56, 17 October 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just added archive links to  on Identity theft. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add  after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add  to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/20060131210801/http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/ to http://www.consumer.gov/idtheft/
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/20080911044319/http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/downloads/clearinghouse_2006.pdf to http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/microsites/idtheft/downloads/clearinghouse_2006.pdf
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/20080911044311/http://www.ftc.gov/os/2007/11/SynovateFinalReportIDTheft2006.pdf to http://www.ftc.gov/os/2007/11/SynovateFinalReportIDTheft2006.pdf
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/20051230021614/http://www.acpr.gov.au:80/research_idcrime.asp to http://www.acpr.gov.au/research_idcrime.asp
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Cheers.—cyberbot IITalk to my owner:Online 22:04, 4 January 2016 (UTC)
thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just added archive links to  on Identity theft. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add  after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add  to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/20111105045936/http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=ocatopic&L=3&L0=Home&L1=Consumer&L2=Identity+Theft&sid=Eoca to http://www.mass.gov/?pageID=ocatopic&L=3&L0=Home&L1=Consumer&L2=Identity+Theft&sid=Eoca
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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just added archive links to  on Identity theft. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add  after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add  to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
*Added archive http://web.archive.org/web/20160125082131/http://www.privacyrights.org/ar/ChronDataBreaches.htm to http://www.privacyrights.org/ar/ChronDataBreaches.htm
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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified one external link on Identity theft. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20101105002332/http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/topics/crime/id-theft/welcome.htm to http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij/topics/crime/id-theft/welcome.htm
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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified 2 external links on Identity theft. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://archive.is/20130416062351/http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/medicalidentitytheft.html to http://www.worldprivacyforum.org/medicalidentitytheft.html
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20141218162516/http://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/Individuals/Identity-Theft to http://www.taxpayeradvocate.irs.gov/Individuals/Identity-Theft
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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Hello !
I would like to put some more information about the "Identity theft" wikipedia page. Indeed, I think it can be interesting to write about the types of data theft, what kind of data can be stolen, how its data can be used and so on.
What do you think about it ? We can discuss about this subject if you want.
Thank you,
Camille
--IAEP.CamilleR (talk) 09:35, 27 September 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Data theft 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified one external link on Identity theft. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://archive.is/20120801/http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/itada/itadact.htm to http://www.ftc.gov/os/statutes/itada/itadact.htm
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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: Hello fellow Wikipedians,
I have just modified 8 external links on Identity theft. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:
*Added archive https://archive.is/20120921/http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs17g-CrimIdTheft.htm to http://www.privacyrights.org/fs/fs17g-CrimIdTheft.htm
*Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20130617002156/http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aKbjO.Ew4S2E to https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aKbjO.Ew4S2E
*Added archive https://archive.is/20120801/http://www.ftc.gov/os/1998/05/identhef.htm to http://www.ftc.gov/os/1998/05/identhef.htm
*Added archive https://archive.is/20120708/http://blog.protectmyid.co.uk/index.php/the-most-likely-victims-of-identity-fraud-men-in-their-late-30s-and-early-40s/ to http://blog.protectmyid.co.uk/index.php/the-most-likely-victims-of-identity-fraud-men-in-their-late-30s-and-early-40s/
*Added archive https://archive.is/20120801/http://www.ftc.gov/os/1998/05/identhef.htm to http://www.ftc.gov/os/1998/05/identhef.htm
*Added archive https://archive.is/20120731/http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/09/idtheft.shtm to http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2003/09/idtheft.shtm
*Added archive https://archive.is/20120913/http://www.naag.org/states-offer-data-breach-protection.php to http://www.naag.org/states-offer-data-breach-protection.php
*Added archive https://archive.is/20120921/http://www.privacyrights.org/cases/victim9.htm to http://www.privacyrights.org/cases/victim9.htm
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thread_title:  External links modified 

message: As others have pointed out in the past, this article seems to be written from an almost pure US perspective. I must admit that looking for sources covering ID theft outside of the US has turned up with little to no results, but perhaps the article should be reworded/re-titled to more correctly reflect its bias to the US. TheUnnamedNewbie (talk) 11:51, 19 February 2020 (UTC)
thread_title:  Article written from US perspective