A True Story of Identity Theft

I met Chris under the name J. Cosmo Cohen, writing at Bitmob.com -- a site that advocates for everyone to use their real names. It was only after getting to know him for quite awhile that he confessed to having lied about his real name, but he had genuine reason to. Cosmo (As everyone calls him now) had his identity stolen, and naturally has been a little wary of giving out personal information ever since. After I talked to Nick Gates about paranoia in the digital world, I thought it would be an interesting follow-up to ask Cosmo some questions about the event that probably forever changed his outlook on life.

We're all warned about identity theft constantly, but to me it seems like one of those dangers that you think will never happen to you. I imagine you used to feel the same?

Yeah, definitely. I used to think, "My identity isn't even worth stealing! I'm so boring." But identity theft is more about the use of your identity to apply for or buy things and has nothing to do with a persons character.

So, people that have screwed up their credit scores and they need someone else to mooch off of? Meaning, you could be pretty broke and people will still go after your identity, because it isn't necessarily about emptying out your bank account?

Exactly. It's like a do-over for them, or even a way for them to screw up your credit so they don't mess up their own.

I read a book called The Contortionist's Handbook by Craig Clevenger, and in it the main character would constantly change his identity to wipe out his history when he OD'd or something. He was a master at recreating birth certificates and social security cards and everything needed to essentially create a new identity. So, I suppose stealing one is just the lazy mans way of doing the same.

I'm sort of confused as to how exactly they go about stealing it though. When I first learned of your past with identity theft, it was because you revealed you were using a pseudonym. I mean, I can open up a phone book and get anyones name, address, and phone number that I want, so, I guess it's confusing to me why you're so reticent of sharing your name on the Internet now. Is that all they need to steal an identity, or are you just much more paranoid now about giving them someplace to start?

I think I'm paranoid about the whole situation because I have no idea how they got my information to begin with, or even how long they had been using it. In my case they were using my Social Security number for who-knows-what.

I don't know how they do it actually, so maybe I'm being overly cautious. My name is Chris Ross, it's so common. If you google search my name, you'd never find me, there are thousands and thousands of people with the same name.

You mentioned using a phone book. It's incredible what you can do with just a name, address and phone number. I'm sure you could go to a doctor's office and get checked out with a fake everything and they'd never know the difference. Or, I guess, until the person that lives there either sent the bill back or called them.

Again, I'm probably just being overly cautious, but again, it's scary to me that I don't know how they got my information in the first place.

It seems so abundantly easy, but it can't be, right? I mean, pirating music is so widespread because it is really simple to do. If stealing identities is as easy as knowing a name, address, and phone number, then it would be so common of a crime that authorities wouldn't ever be able to keep up. Somehow, they got your social security number though.

I wonder if, in this Internet age, we need something else. I've signed up for jobs online, which involved putting my social security number on the application. There have been those cases of bank sites that got hacked and thousands of their customer's information was stolen. As we move more and more of our daily business online, there must be something better. Maybe we have an "Online Security Number", and we give that out online instead of our SS number. Then, the employer, or bank, or whoever else, uses that to contact a government appointed company for our SS number, only if the company thinks they check out.

I don't know, maybe that wouldn't work, but it seems like there needs to be a change to the whole system, instead of just a change in the security levels. For all of the VeriSign, or whatever other "Secure Website" companies, and for all of the attempts from police and CIA to adapt to the changing online world, identity theft just changes along with it. I guess I really have no idea.

I know there's a system to the whole process of issuing Social Security Numbers, so perhaps it's a matter of knowing which numbers mean what. I know the first three numbers of a Social Security Number are based on the location of the individual, but I'm not sure about the rest.

And if there's a system to the process, I'm sure anyone could figure it out if they tried hard enough.

As far as using our number to apply for jobs and such, I find the whole process offensive. Most places use the Social Security Number as a means of identifying a person, but in reality the SSN should only be used for government processes -- specifically, when we're old enough, we get to collect the money we've put into it. Maybe things have changed (I'm sure they have), but I'm a person, not a number.

Here's a link to the history of the SSN, in case you're interested: http://www.ssa.gov/history/ssn/ssncards.html

Recently, Blizzard -- makers of games like World of Warcraft and Starcraft 2 -- tried to implement a Real ID system on their forums that would later expand to their actual game logins, meaning people would have to use their real names to post on their site or play their games. There was a bit of a hubbub and they've slightly killed it, though, I believe they're still going to bring it to their actual game logins in the future.

Most people that raised a fuss only did so out of selfish reasons, wanting to keep their anonymity so they could be "better immersed in their characters", or simply so they could openly mock and verbally abuse people without thinking twice about it affecting their reputation. You however, have a much better reason to be wary of that sort of thing. What did you think of the whole situation?

I thought about this for a long time, actually. The benefits of having people use their real names far outweigh fake ones, I think. Bitmob is the perfect example. Yes, some people will continue to say things they wouldn't dare say in real life, but for the most part people seem to be more respectful.

But I also see the other side. Obviously, my legitimate claim would be identity theft issues; but like I've mentioned already, that's just me being overly cautious. Still, some people like to geek-out with their made-up name, literally role-playing.

On the whole, I think most people overreacted. It's not as big of a deal as they think.

I think the Bitmob example has been thrown around a lot without all of the parts of it taken into account. Yeah, people act more mature there on the whole, but I don't think that's entirely due to them using their real name. A majority of people at Bitmob most likely want to make something out of writing about video games, or at least don't wish to burn that bridge should something come up.

I can certainly see the argument against integrating a real name system for Blizzard. People don't play World of Warcraft because they're hoping a career might come of it. They just play it for fun. To get lost in the world. They might not want it so easily linked to their real life. Maybe a prospective employer who isn't well versed in the world of video games Googles their name and finds they play WoW, assumes they must be lazy and immature, and doesn't hire them. Though, I'm kind of playing devil's advocate here, because I think if they'd integrated that system people who didn't wish to have that info out there could just not play. Same type of thing with Facebook and 500 million people have plastered their information up there.

So, is there a take-away for you? What will you tell your kids about sharing their information online?

Your point about Bitmob is one I hadn't considered, but you're absolutely right. And it also shows a level of maturity, which is certainly nice.

So on the whole, my advice to anyone and everyone is be careful about giving your personal information without understanding to whom or what you're giving it to; even if it is just your name. You brought up Facebook. I think that site is ridiculous. Everyone is so willing to fork over their name and location, and if you look, most even have their email address available to the general public. There's nothing preventing someone taking that information and running with it.

Some people will even write on each other's wall, "Hey, call me at this number" and actually put their cell or home phone number out there for anyone to see.

I believe my kids will be more educated about identity theft not just from me, but as information is so readily available, it will become just something they know not to do. Of course, I could be completely wrong, and that's why I plan on helping them understand the risks.