Frank Abagnale, the subject of Catch Me If You Can, explains just how simple identity theft is in Protect Your Identity Before Someone Steals It:
You go to the grocery store and you write a check for $52 of groceries. On that check is your name and address, the name of your bank, your bank’s address, your account number, your routing number, your transit number and your signature. If nothing else, that’s more than what I would need to access your bank account and draft on it. That in itself is enough. Then in many cases, they’ll say I need to write down your driver’s license. In 12 states, your driver’s license is your Social Security number, as it is in my state (Oklahoma). Next they write my date of birth and ask me if I have a work number. With all that information in hand, they can fill out a credit-card application.Personnel records are also a prime source for identity thieves. A janitorial service might bid low so it can get a three-month probation contract. Once they are in the office, they do a great cleaning job, but part of the cleaning team has access to personnel records, files, employees’ desks, to obtain all kinds of information. For example, a janitorial service working at a doctor’s office may have access to patients’ records, which contain their names, addresses, Social Security numbers, date of birth, sometimes a copy of a driver’s license with driver’s license number, phone numbers and credit-card records. While they’re there, they might also look through employees’ desks for pay stubs or credit-card receipts.