Check it Out

Stealing Your Life : the Ultimate Identity Theft Prevention Plan
by Frank W. Abagnale
Broadway Books, 2007
Leisure reading collection, call #3096

Stealing Your Life is both scary and hopeful. Scary because of statistics like these:
-- “An estimated 80 per cent of birth certificate requests are fulfilled through the mail using only a name and address.” This means that anyone can have your birth certificate sent to his address.
-- “Americans write 39 billion checks a year, and half of these folks never reconcile their bank statements.”
-- “A Social Security number costs $49 on the black market, a driver’s license $90, a birth certificate $79.”

Nearly half the book is devoted to true stories of how identities can be and have been stolen.

The rest of the book is filled with practical advice for avoiding identity theft. Some are no-brainers, such as getting and using a shredder, not giving out your Social Security number, and having your mail held by the Post Office while you are on vacation. But there are some other suggestions that aren’t as obvious, such as avoiding passwords that are your Social Security number (statistically the most common passwords used by banking customers), your mother’s maiden name, your pet’s name, or the word password. You should contact credit bureaus when a relative dies and file a “deceased alert” because, as Abagnale says, “when someone dies, they often move to the top of the list of identities sought after by thieves.” Be aware of billing cycles because a missed bill could mean that a thief has submitted a change of address for you.

Stealing Your Life, at 240 pages, is a relatively quick read and could be one of the most important books you read this year.

Book Review by Diane Gustafson, SWC Librarian