U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, FRAUD DIVISION, 2008
Furthermore, many people would consider abiding by the long lists of dos and don’ts recom- mended in Box 5.4 to be unreasonable (such as workers grilling their employers about how well their personnel files are safeguarded); impractical (customers refusing to provide Social Security num- bers to creditors); burdensome (like devising new passwords containing many letters and numbers every few months); or unworkable (emptying home mailboxes at midday). Living this way— always being vigilant and suspicious—is emotion- ally exhausting.
A nagging question is “Why me?” or “How did it happen?” Unfortunately, most victims never figure that out. Several sets of answers from various sources shed light on this issue.
A study commissioned in 2005 focused on the relatively small proportion that did discover how the thieves got their personal identifiers. Lost or stolen wallets, credit cards, and checkbooks were the source of the problem in less than 30 percent of all identity theft cases in which victims thought they knew why it happened to them (Katel, 2005).
Only about 40 percent of all self-identified victims told NCVS interviewers that they thought they knew what caused their problems. The leading reasons were that personal identifiers were com- promised during a purchase or other transaction; fell into the wrong hands because of a lost or sto- len wallet or checkbook; and were lifted from per- sonnel files maintained in offices. But the majority had no clue as to why they were targeted and how the fraud took place (Langton and Planty, 2010). Similarly, “How did it happen?” remained a mys- tery to the majority of respondents in the 2012 NCVS. Nearly 67 percent could not determine how the thief obtained their personal information, and over ninety percent did not know anything about the person who impersonated them (Harrell and Langton, 2013). Tapping into another source of data, only about 30 percent of “verified vic- tims” who used the free services offered by the Identity Theft Assistance Center (ITAC) had fig- ured out how it happened to them. The leading causes were computer hacking/viruses/phishing schemes, followed by lost or stolen wallets, check- books, or credit cards. Other less frequent expla- nations were data breaches beyond their ability to control; betrayals by relatives, friends, and in- home employees; stolen or diverted mail; disclo- sures by corrupt employees; and, lastly, burglaries of their residences—this according to a 2011 study of about 760 persons commissioned by an organi- zation that is funded by the financial services industry and reportedly engages in victim advo- cacy (ITAC, 2011).
But there are many other ways that thieves can steal information from their unsuspecting prey dur- ing a range of everyday activities. Personal identifiers can be intercepted in technologically sophisticated ways while customers are engaged in banking trans- actions online or when they are buying merchandise or tickets over the Internet. Cell phone transmissions can also be intercepted to hijack information. Birth certificates can be obtained under false pretenses from records maintained by county governments. Crooks posing as landlords or employers conducting background checks can get other people’s credit reports (Office of the Inspector General, 2005).
TH E O N GO IN G C ON T RO VE RSY O VE R S HARE D RE S P ON S IB I L I T Y 151
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