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Saturday, March 27, 2004Giving Identity Theft the Thumbs Down
 Like some form of modern day Roman Emperor Jamie Jameson told the BBC Radio 4's Money Box Program how he intends to protect his Identity and credit rating by using his thumb, or rather his thumb print.While the article does give some useful air time to the growing and increasing threat of identity theft it was a little light on substance and critical examination of the practicalities of Jamie's approach. His attempt to protect himself is based upon the use of a real 'ink' thumb print that he will place alongside any signature to validate it. He has informed the UK's main credit agencies, including Experian, that unless the print is present then then any document is invalid. According to him ..I think I am the best protected person against identity fraud. However there are some significant drawbacks in this rather simple approach, the first of which is how is anyone going to check the 'print' is indeed Jamie's and not just a similar one provided by the fraudster? Presumably The lender, credit agency or indeed Jamie would need to have the print checked by a Law Enforcement agency, the article refers to 'the police'. Not only would this be time consuming but probably expensive. Even then the degree of certainty is by no means absolute. Indeed the FBI in a recent finger print identification test found an average failure rate of 1 in 5. Identity Theft will be one of the key topics of discussion at the The North East Fraud Forum Annual Conference 10th and 11th May 2004 Related Links Taking identity fraud in hand : By Jennifer Clarke BBC Radio 4's Money Box Practical Fingerprint recognition systems for Authentication Precise Biometrics Reckoning With Risk by Gerd Gigerenzer ISBN 0-140-29786-3 Fingering Fingerprints. (2000), December 16) The Economist, 103~104 APACS Card Watch web site with special focus on 'plastic card fraud' Card Security Week 10-15 November 2003 Keeping Your Card Safe on the New High Street Chip and PIN programme in the UK CIFAS - The UK's Fraud Prevention Service posted by Robert Campbell 4:04 PM
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