When you meet new people, how well do you know them before you invite them into your home?  Today, when most people hear about identity theft, they think of hackers stealing personal information over the Internet.  Sure, you have to protect yourself on-line, but you also must be careful of new acquaintances and friends that you meet in the real world.  How trusting are you?  Here is a scenario that was relayed to me recently:

My friend Pam had always wanted to take a class in pottery but there was never anything offered in her area.  One day, she received a class schedule from her local community college and saw the perfect class for her:  Pottery 101.  It was a 10 week course, close to home and the price was right, so she signed up.   The first day of class, she was early and chose a seat towards the back of the room.  Tony came in the room shortly after and sat next to her.  They had some time to talk before class started and found conversation very easy.  There was no romantic interest, but Pam thought that Tony would make a great friend.

Pam and Tony would go out for coffee every night after class, sometimes with a group and sometimes alone.  Either way, they really enjoyed each other’s company, so they started making plans to go out on weekends.  The first time Tony picked Pam up at her apartment, she gave him the grand tour, which included her home office.  Tony admired the antique safe that was in a prominent position.  Pam told him that she bought it at an estate sale and it was where she kept all her important papers.  She said she never had a combination for it, and jokingly added that she felt that it looked impressive enough to deter any burglar.  Because of this, she felt it didn’t need to be locked.

For months, they hung out together.  Pam talked about her family that was living in another state and how difficult it was sometimes to live so far from them.  Tony could sympathize since he had recently become a US citizen, but his girlfriend wasn’t yet able to come over from their native country.  Time went on and they became almost inseparable friends and confidants.

After knowing each other for a little over a year, Tony announced that he was going to visit his family and girlfriend overseas.  Pam was so happy for him because she knew how much he missed them all.  She drove him to the airport and saw him off.  She didn’t expect to hear from him during his trip, but she was to pick him up in two weeks.  Pam had all of Tony’s flight information and got to the airport a few minutes before the plane landed.     

Obituaries are published daily in every newspaper in the United States and every day, people look through them to see if anyone they may have known recently died.  An obituary is a good way for friends of the recently deceased to know of any funeral arrangements so they could pay their respects.   It’s also a good way for identity thieves, known as “ghosters” to gather information in order to resurrect that person; or, at least that person’s identity.  Think of all the information held in one, small obituary.  The name and age of the deceased, spouse’s name, number of children and their ages, home towns of everyone and close relatives who pre-deceased them all help a ghoster to rebuild a life.  The obituary is also helpful in letting the ghoster know when those closest to the deceased will not be at home so the houses could be invaded to gather yet more information.  After all, aren’t the times of viewings and funerals listed in these obituaries?

There are many people willing to pay for new identities for a number of reasons.  An experienced ghoster will find a wide variety of potential identities by looking through many different newspapers.  No one is safe.  What if a whole family wants to begin a new life?  Identities will be needed for a man, a woman and however many children they have.  Knowing what times a house will probably be empty, the ghoster will make an unannounced visit.  Neighbors will probably also be at the viewing or funeral, so there’s a good chance the ghoster will never be seen.  Going through the house of the deceased person could turn up a birth certificate, driver’s license and Social Security card.  In fact, if the ghoster plans things out ahead of time, he could get to quite a few houses in one day, gathering information from each.  The information doesn’t have to be used immediately; the ghoster has all the time in the world to wait for the need to arise.

Any information found can be used for anything from simple credit card fraud to something as involved as taking on that person’s full identity.  If Stella Oldman needs some new furniture, but doesn’t have the money, no problem!  With the Social Security number and driver’s license in the name of Carolyn Baines, she can apply for credit and never have to pay a dime.  Or, Stella could want to escape a criminal warrant, so with a Social Security card, driver’s license and birth certificate, she can assume Carolyn’s identity and start life over as an innocent woman.

Do you ever get that feeling that someone is following you, someone is watching you? Don’t quickly jump to the conclusion that you are crazy; many others feel the same way. The fact is that you are often being watched, and not just by other people. In Britain, and as being tested in some undisclosed parts of the United States, people are being held under surveillance by discreet video cameras mounted on houses. These video cameras can watch passerby and record everything that they see and or do. The cameras can be accessed by local law enforcement, federal law enforcement, or any other criminal agency at any time, with a live feed able to be brought up. These cameras are supposed to watch for “anti-social behavior”, and when detected, the police are to be dispatched and the situation taken care of.

While the idea of being watched sounds bad, it really is not. It depends clearly on the type. When you are being watched for your own safety, as these video cameras are doing for the citizens, sometimes it is necessary to make some privacy sacrifices to ensure your protection. The only question that arises is what exactly is “anti-social behavior”? If this anti-social behavior means a man waiting outside someone’s house looking to see if anyone is home, and then trying to break the door down or open a window, then it goes without saying that we would all be okay with these cameras. Sometimes these cameras can snoop into places we don’t want them too, and they then abandon their public service. This is the bad kind of being watched, a voyeuristic viewing of your life and its details. It doesn’t have to be the actual watching of your person though or what you are doing; this illegal type of surveillance expands into the extension of your self, except online: your social security number, your documents, your emails, etc.