identity crisis

My bosses at work recently spoke at a fraud convention and because of the line of work they are in, they did get a lot of media attention. (excuse the vagueness, I'm still not sure if I should be talking about work in more detail). Being the writer in the company, I had to update a lot of content related to fraud and scams and though this meant a hell of a hectic week at work, I actually learnt a lot.

In specific, what I found interesting was identity theft and fraud. I remember watching a movie ages ago that dealt with ID theft and I found it strange and brushed it off as something that either happens only in the movies, or, was one of those strange things Americans had to live with. This of course was at least 8 - 10 years ago.

Anyway, so while researching for the content I was required to write for work, I realised that I could just as easily become a victim about ID theft. Apparently, in the UK, the easiest way to steal someone's identity today is by hacking into their Facebook account. We give out so much of our personal details on Facebook.. like date of birth, phone number, work details etc... so imagine how useful that info would be in the hands of a hacker/ scammer? A former ID thief has said that a date of birth and a phone number along with the person's name is all one really needs to steal someone's identity and apply for credit or open utility accounts in their name. Hmmm... guess what I did after I wrote all this content? ;)

Anyway, so maybe I was being a little paranoid but I don't care. My bosses told us about all the people they met at this fraud convention who had lost thousands of dollars due to ID theft or a scam, and though I don't have thousands of dollars to lose.. I still don't want someone else pretending to be me... I have enough of an identity crisis any way.. ;-) For once, I'm letting the paranoia get the better of me. May not be such a bad idea.