Actor In ID Theft Commercial... Has ID Stolen

from the whoops dept

An actor who takes part in a commercial recommending identity theft insurance apparently didn't pay much attention to the lesson he was giving. Despite telling people to be careful about what documents they discard, a British tabloid did a little dumpster diving at his house and found he discarded plenty of info useful in identity theft. Of course, the article does go a little over board in warning about the risks of identity theft. While it is, obviously, a problem, they imply that it's a much bigger risk then it is. The article quotes a study saying that "a quarter of UK adults have had their identity stolen or know somebody who has been a victim of ID fraud." As you get through the first half of that sentence, it sure sounds like one quarter of all UK adults have been victims. Then, it's only the second half that clarifies with the "or knows someone who..." which certainly seems to make it seem like a much smaller issue.