Identity Theft Skeptic Ends Up As Fraud Victim 388
An anonymous reader writes "British TV host Jeremy Clarkson recently wrote a newspaper editorial ridiculing the uproar that had occurred after the British government admitted to losing two compact discs containing the personal information on 25 million people. To support his claim about the overhyped risks of identity theft, he published his bank account information in the article. Proving that some identity thieves have a sense of humor, a week later, he found out that someone had set up an automatic bank transfer for $1000 to a diabetes charity from his account. This comes less than a year after the CEO of LifeLock, an identity theft protection company which publishes the CEO's social security number on its website, himself was a victim of financial fraud. Back in July of 2007, a man in Texas was able to secure a $500 loan from a payday loan company using the CEO's widely publicized SSN. Will this latest incident finally prove that identity theft is real, and that publishing your own financial info is an invitation for fraud?"
Poetic justice (Score:4, Funny)
Schadenfreude (Score:5, Funny)
And learn what a pickup truck is designed for, would ya?
Bwahahahahaha! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Poetic justice (Score:5, Funny)
Clarkson announced it on Top Gear (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Bwahahahahaha! (Score:5, Funny)
In the immortal words of Bugs Bunny: "Ain't I a stinker?"
Re:Poetic justice (Score:2, Funny)
Hahah, no kidding!
Open Mouth. (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Schadenfreude (Score:2, Funny)
Re:If you give it away (Score:5, Funny)
Signed
Sam B. Carswell
4994 Pin Oak Drive
Whittier, CA 90603
Email Address: SamBCarswell@fontdrift.com [fakemailgenerator.com]
Phone: 562-943-0713
Mother's maiden name: Grondin
Birthday: January 27, 1955
Visa: 4532 7971 3753 8401
Expires: 12/2009
SSN: 550-80-1765
UPS Tracking Number for my Plasma TV: 1Z 195 055 46 3018 447 5
Re:If you give it away (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Poetic justice (Score:5, Funny)
I bet he's a terrist too!
Re:Will it lead to stricter regulation of credit? (Score:5, Funny)
No, no, no! You're looking at this all wrong!
I LOVE getting those free offers in the mail - but only the ones with the return-postage-paid envelopes.
Did you know that you can tape that envelope to ANYTHING (almost...) that weighs less than 70 lbs.? And it will be delivered?
That's how I get rid of my old 486, 386, etc computers. And I don't fill up MY landfill! (And they have to dispose of them correctly!)
Sweeeet!!
Re:Obligatory (Score:2, Funny)
It's nice to see you've found a role within the community.
Re:If you give it away (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Poetic justice (Score:3, Funny)
Re:He had it coming... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Poetic justice (Score:5, Funny)
He's British.
Is he running Vista? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Poetic justice (Score:3, Funny)
Re:If you give it away (Score:5, Funny)
I do.
Re:Poetic justice (Score:3, Funny)
Maybe they wanted to be sure of hitting Clarkson in the pocket?
Had the fraudster chosen (say) FoE then Clarkson could demand the money back with perfect integrity, since - love him or hate him - he has never made a secret of his position on environmental issues and could reasonably refuse to support FoE as a matter of principle.
If, however, he claws back the money from a diabetes charity he's going to look like a complete Scrooge.
Ha Ha. :-)
Of course, the other possibility is that, since even a lowly unpaid clerical helper at FoE seeing the name "Jeremy Clarkson" attached to a donation would immediately spray coff... er... Fairtrade carob beverage over their keyboard and make further enquiries, the fraudster thought they'd play it safe.