I keep hearing this commercial where this guy gives out his personal social security number over the radio selling an identity theft protection service.

Not only do you have to worry about real identity theft but it's rampant on the internet too.

I'm always amazed at how so many people can assume fake identities ...pretend to be people they are not, have personalities other than their own, use other's real names or use many different names and post anonymously - sometimes even answering their own posts with different names! lol .... It's really strange! I have no idea how they keep all of it straight... it's like being married to a few different wives & having multiple families ( and no one knows except you! and always having to remember what you last said so you don't get busted). I can't even remember what I posted yesterday.. lol.. I could never keep it straight!


I read newspapers that allow anonymous comments and am always amazed at what people will write if they aren't held accountable for it. Some people write the most horrible things.... I'm wondering if newspapers should allow that? Anonymous postings and rants? I don't think so.

I've heard of people stealing email addresses or posing as strangers off of popular websites... basically stealing their identies.... it's all anonymous and must give them great power to say things they would never normally say. I think we need better tracking systems. People would never write some of the things they do I'll bet if their name was attached to it.

Aside from the Internet, I've heard horror stories where thousands and thousands of dollars have been stolen and charged to credit cards... crimes committed, bank account's drained, driver's licenses stolen and cars wrecked.. the hours it takes to clear people's names and credit must be astronomical.

I often wonder what it would be like to have my identity stolen? How strange that would be..someone using my name, social security number and information.... yuk...

Has anyone ever experienced this? Have you had someone steal or try to steal your identity?

I'm thinking about looking into this program now!

I think that 99% of all that is media scare/hype.

Same with bird flu, West Nile, terrorist attacks, and Paris Hilton.

The very few people I've known over the years that had something like a CC# stolen had it sorted out with minimal hubub in short order without paying somebody to help them.

Oh, and I'm really Bob Dole.

4LifeLock.Com (http://www.4lifelock.com/)

I found it! It is $120 a year... their ad says

"Do you know how many people in the world today are trying to be you?" eek!

I've seen it first hand on the internet... not so much personally. It is really easy to assume identities online but as long as you don't engage in criminal behavior you can be anyone you want to pretend to be.

Penny Arcade! - Green Blackboards (And Other Anomalies) (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19)

Caution, foul language. A great representation of internet users, however....

Penny Arcade! - Green Blackboards (And Other Anomalies) (http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19)

Caution, foul language. A great representation of internet users, however....

Penny Arcade is pretty much my favorite comic (web or paper) in a long, long time.

I have been a victim of identity theft and there is no way I would pay for that program. Almost everything they do I did myself. Sure it might be a little time consumming but I knew for sure then it had been done.

To have someone tell you that someone else is using your name, address and social is one of the worst feelings.

In my case the person who has had my info for at least 5 years was finally arrested within the last few months. Who knows if this is the end of my problem. It may never end. I just have to keep being diligent and watching everything very closely.

Wow, sorry to hear about that .... 5 years! What a horrible thought.

Were the companies affected sympathetic when you called and told them you were a victim of identity theft? How did this guy get your info?

I know you can contact the credit card reporting companies and they can red flag your credit reports ( they have to contact you if anyone tries to open credit under your name or social security number).

But, I'm sure you've done already done that .. what a pain.

We still don't know how the person got my info. At first she didn't have my social so that covered me with that. Then some how the last year or two she had my social but not my drivers license number.
I did the credit card bureau thing but it has it's drawbacks. It will only stay on your report for 6 months. If you want longer then it will stay for 7 years. That's fine but if you want to buy something on credit in a few years you have to deal with that. I still check my credit report yearly and that's been all taken care of.

Actually the worst part of the whole thing was dealing with one of the central OK county DA's office. This person had bogus checks out and some were in my name. She wasn't using my address at that time so I never heard from anyone about returned checks. That is until the DA's office started calling telling me a warrant was out for my arrest. I turned in police reports and affedavits numerous times but would still get a phone call about every 6 months. They sure liked telling me about the arrest warrant.
They finally stopped calling about a year ago. Now they have the person so there is no more arrest warrant.