Andy Smith's Blog

Page.RegisterStartupScript('Andy', 'MetaBuilders_WebControls_GainKnowledge();');

Identity Theft Follow Up

Scoble ( or is it not really him? (: ) commented on my previous post with:

“I've never had this problem. Why? Because I have a blog. If anyone ever posted claiming to be me, it'd be easy for me to point that out on my blog. Also, one would just have to look at the IP addresses and see that they are coming from different places. Most of us don't take the time to switch to different places just to post a comment.“

Scoble, If somebody wanted to make a concerted effort to impersonate you on comment systems, You would not have the time to "not me!" all of them, and probably not even the time be able to find them all.

As for the "check the IP" idea...

  • A) I don't have your IP memorized, nor an easy to find out the "right" one.
  • B) My IP will certainly change if I'm blogging and commenting outside, downtown, over various open wireless networks, on my TabletPC. Isn't that the future? :)

My goal is for the reader of the comment ( or “the bank making the transaction” in the more popular case of ID Theft ) to have the ability to verify the provider of credentials at any time. A name, web address, or Client IP Address HTTP header, are not sufficient for this task.

Posted: Dec 09 2003, 02:12 PM by Andy Smith | with 8 comment(s)

Comments

Scott Galloway said:

Just posted something to that effect on Frans' blog...some loose 'membership' system is totallt necessary here - simple Name, Email with confirmation of the email would be sufficient for this and wouldn't be overly onerous on the user posting the comment.
# December 9, 2003 4:14 PM

Scott Galloway said:

Oh, also allows the user to be notified on further replies (ala ASP.NET forums notification) - which is very handy :-)
# December 9, 2003 4:15 PM

Shannon J Hager said:

I agree, having a required email but not showing it on the page is the best way I can think of. If a person posts using Scoble's email address and Scoble gets a verification of it, he WILL be able to say "not me!". If the impersonator uses the wrong email address, it will be a little easier to see it is not really him.
And I like being able to get emails from blog owners when I reply. The current system here makes that hard.
# December 9, 2003 4:23 PM

Robert Scoble said:

You totally underestimate my ability to watch thousands of blogs and see what people are saying about me. :-)

Also, if they really fill in a comment with the intent to look like me, they'll put my weblog address in there.

Invariably that'll show up in my referer logs and I watch those like a hawk.
# December 9, 2003 4:42 PM

Andy Smith said:

Scoble, even if you have the time to track your own identity, not everybody does. I certainly don't have the time to track every comment on "thousands of blogs", nor do I have the time to watch my referer logs like a hawk. I'm guessing most people don't. I'm looking for away to have a button next to my name in the comments that can verify for a reader that it was really me.
# December 9, 2003 8:22 PM

Duncan Smart said:

Anonymous proxies are ten a penny also...
# December 10, 2003 3:51 AM

ScamsOnline: Identity Theft said:

PingBack from http://collegeidtheft.bestbuytip.com/index.php/62/scamsonline-identity-theft/

# December 1, 2006 10:08 AM

Mike Prusinski said:

From the highest-ranking government official to regular blue-collar workers, every single one of us is potentially a victim of identity theft.  The news stories below provide just a glimpse of the dangers facing our personal security

An Internet social gaming community was shocked to learn that one of their own had intentionally distributed malicious software.  A man from the state of Washington had developed a program known as a “trojan horse” and masked it within links to movie files that were emailed to members of the group.  The spyware was designed to implant itself on the recipient’s computer and allow the thief access to personal data such as passwords and financial information.  The man who betrayed the trust of his online friends pleaded guilty to fraud.

A study conducted by the National Crime Prevention Council revealed that, for the seventh straight year, identity theft is the top complaint among consumers.  The NCPC went on to say, however, that participants in the study who acknowledged identity theft as a fear showed themselves to have no more knowledge about personal security issues than those who claimed they were not concerned.  These results hint at an alarming lack of action among Americans in the face of a very real danger.

We live in a world of criminals who are resourceful, relentless and determined to do whatever it takes to get their hands on the personal information of people like us.  A regular monitoring service can only alert you after your identity has already been stolen.  Get proactive!  LifeLock is able to guarantee your good name.  Come see how!

# June 1, 2007 3:03 PM
Leave a Comment

(required) 

(required) 

(optional)

(required)