This content was created by Robert Siciliano. This content was uploaded by Robert Siciliano. This is a YouTube interview segment (title: "Scams Schemes Cons and Theives! Oh My! Identity Theft Protection www.IDTheftSecurity.com") from March 28, 2008, featuring a host on the show "The Big Idea" (labeled SPEAKER A) interviewing personal security expert Robert Siciliano. The conversation focuses on identity theft and Social Security number risks, prevalence of data breaches, and how SSNs are used to open accounts and commit fraud. The clip is a conversational interview/talk about consumer identity-protection issues.
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Welcome back to America's favorite show and pastime, The Big Idea. Tonight we are exposing cons and schemes. Okay, we've seen a lot of crazy things tonight, from foot baths to psychics, but a scheme that's much more likely to ruin your life hinges on those 9 little numbers, your Social Security number. It is the golden key to everything you've ever worked for. Thieves want it. As far as I can tell, Congress isn't doing much at all to protect us from Social Security fraud. My next guest is a personal security expert who's going to walk us through the risks and the solutions, Robert Siciliano. Robert, welcome. This is probably the scariest part of the show to me because this is something that can so easily affect us all. I wanna throw a few facts out there and then please help. 46% of all ID theft is involved credit card theft. 28% of vital records are now available online for sale, basically. 92 million names, addresses, Social Security numbers have been compromised in the last year. Our Social Security number is our ticket to be alive on this earth, and it's also our ticket that can bring us to ruin.
Your Social Security number has become our national ID. Those 9 numbers are who you are considered by the government, law enforcement, major corporations, associations, and schools all over the country.
How easy is it? The point is, if somebody has my Social Security number, they can get into my bank account. Most people, their savings, their bank account is all their net worth. How easy is it for somebody right now to get my Social Security number?
Strangely enough, your Social Security number is a public record in many different places, and it's available for free and for sale on different websites. Unfortunately, uh, we live in what's called a database society, meaning that our information isn't just on one database, it's on hundreds of databases and filing cabinets all over the country. And anybody that has access to this data —can again either sell it or use it to compromise your identity.
Okay, Robert, before we get to me being really pissed off that Congress is not protecting us here, let's say somebody does have my Social Security number. Isn't that the golden key at this point? They can get into anything I own? That is my ID.
Without a doubt, your Social Security number is the key to the kingdom. And with those 9 numbers, they can open up a variety of accounts under your name. When you think about it, when you apply for most accounts—credit cards, even the local video store, getting a cellular phone—they ask for your Social Security number to do do a credit check on you, and once they do a credit check on you to see if you're a good risk, then they open up accounts under your name. So with those 9 numbers, that allows anybody to open up any kind of account under your name at any time.
