Re[4]: The end of Phishing in sight?

[Pierre Vandevenne <pierre () datarescue com>]

Good Afternoon,

Tuesday, October 18, 2005, 6:33:49 AM, you wrote:

> > Those things aren't a problem in Europe. ID theft is essentially a non
> > issue at this point. I'd say the problem is not only technical... but
> > socio-cultural. I haven't seen a belgian check in the last seven years
> > for example.

DFC> I apologize for my ignorance, I am not trying to be a pain in the ass
DFC> I just don't understand why you think these issues are so prevalent in
DFC> the states.

Because USians talk so much about it all the time. Because there are
guides in the popular magazines and on daily news on how to deal,
prevent or recover from ID theft. Because books are written about it.

Or is this propaganda I am falling for?

DFC> Why is ID theft a non-issue in Europe?

There are many many differences in the way social security works - my
social security number/card won't get you anywhere. You can't do
anything with any of my bank account numbers, this is so true that
they are written everywhere on our official papers. There are many
differences in the way credit card works (the vast majority of us
doesn't carry credit card debt, doesn't shuffle it around accounts
etc...). The vast majority of us have national ID cards. Databases
like Choicepoint's are, in theory, simply illegal: the ones that exist
are relatively small, on the egde of legality, and aren't useful in
eventually assuming other people's IDs.

DFC> What are we doing wrong in here in the states?

I am not saying that you are doing anything wrongly or rightly: one
can have endless debates about the merits of a national id card or the
rationality of high interest debt.... But that's not the point. The
point is simply that a number of social and commercial habits converge
to generally allow or disallow some things.

DFC> And what is not seeing a check evidence of?

It is not the evidence of anything, but the primary cause of the
absence of fraud schemes involving checks.

Almost everything described in this brochure is impossible here

http://www.frbservices.org/Retail/pdf/CheckFraud.pdf

because almost no-one will pay or accept cheques. Even the somewhat
guaranteed eurocheque is long dead.

Important point: the "checking" habits aren't uniform in Europe.
France still uses way more checks than we do in Belgium, and they, of
course, have more check fraud.

But when you combine frequent check payments, the ultimate weak
payment mean, lax ID checks, wide availability of personal data
allowing people to impersonate others credibly...

-- 
Best regards,
Pierre                            mailto:pierre () datarescue com
  

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