Getting Out From Under ID Theft Isn't Easy

from the piling-on dept

One of the biggest problems with identity theft isn't necessarily what it does immediately to its victims, but the mess it leaves for them. The way things are structured now, the entire process of picking up the pieces is placed on the victims, which is quite a pain. Not only that, but it's very difficult for identity theft victims to convince everyone necessary to fix the situation -- which is why over a quarter of victims say they've been unable to clear their name after a year of trying. No wonder some are saying that we need to shift the burden before companies take identity theft seriously.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  1. identicon
    Tim, 27 Jul 2005 @ 5:30am

    UK ID cards

    Excuse me while I gratuitously link this valid point to no2id.net as well...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Jul 2005 @ 10:22am

    I believe it

    I haven't had problems with anyone stealing my identity, but I sure have had problems with credit reporting agencies mangling my identity.

    I've been currently wrestling with Experian for the past few months. They merged my records with another person with the same name, but different SSN and different birthdate. You'd think 2 SSNs and 2 birthdates on one record would raise a flag for them.

    I've gotten most of the bogus stuff off except for for one public record from a state I've never been too. Experian says its the clerk's fault for verifying the record and their's nothing they can do about it. The clerk says he just verifies the existence of the public record requested (he agrees its not me) and its Experian's fault for matching it to my record. I'm frustrated, and want to know who's liable for this libel.

    link to this | view in thread ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.