Why Europeans are Less Susceptible to Identity Theft

Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 2:08:00 pm PDT

We here in America have a lot about which to be proud when it comes to our record with Europe.

We liberated Vichy France from the evils of German Fascism.

We beat England in our war for independence.  

We make far better cars than Italy (with the possible exclusion of the Ferrari, that is).

So, where, you ask, do they beat us?

Simple: Identity theft.  Europeans generally have lower rates of identity theft.  As a matter of fact, it’s hard obtaining numbers on how many of them have been victimized as it comprises such a small percentage of the population there.  Here are some thoughts on why that may be:

First, social security numbers are used for purposes of obtaining and cashing retirement benefit checks; that’s all.  They’re not used as universal forms of identification.  If a criminal obtains this one number, usually a quick phone call, fax or e-mail on the part of the victim asking for a prompt cessation pending investigation will clear things up.

Second, data tends not to be accessible in the same way or to the same degree there as it is here.  According to identity theft expert Bob Sullivan, author of Your Evil Twin: Behind the Identity Theft Epidemic, “European Union privacy directives restrict data aggregation of public records, even of stuff we take for granted over here.”  In America, companies are free to research and put into one place all the information they can find about a given person: former street addresses, maiden names, land and mobile telephone numbers and more.  For a small fee, of course, an identity thief can have his way with such a treasure trove of information.  

Third, unlike in Europe, American companies can gain easy access to various credit score companies and obtain information you may consider to be deeply personal and private, such as whether you’ve been paying off that Discover bill on time and with more than the minimum amount required.  Mostly it’s for purposes of seeing how attentive you’ve been about satisfying your debts (the thinking is the more responsible you are personally the more responsible you’re likely to be professionally).  While it may sound logical, particularly from the potential employer’s perspective, many times it can lead to problems.  Having that information readily available to well-intentioned people also means having it readily available to conniving people.  

Fourth, and this one is probably the single largest contributing factor, use of credit cards is far less prominent in Europe than in America.  Most people use cash or Debit cards there.  If a perpetrator does, in fact, get a hold of your bank card, the damage he can do is limited by the amount you have sitting in the bank.  Moreover, banks usually credit back the amount stolen in short order once a breach has been established.  If, on the other hand, a thief gets his hands on your credit cards, not only can he use those to the maximum but he can also use the information on each one to create multiple new accounts in your name.  The process by which he obtains the information is called “skimming” and takes only a short while with some easily obtainable machinery.  As many identity theft victims already know, the damage that can be done once new accounts are opened in your name is far greater and takes far longer to rectify.

Since it’s highly unlikely Americans will be willing to unilaterally cut off or even reduce their use of credit cards or convince Congress immediately of the merits of limiting usage of Social Security Numbers or limiting who can obtain an individual’s information, prevention still remains the best bet.  Checking on one’s score periodically, remaining vigilant of any suspect charges or withdrawals and investing in credit monitoring services is prudent.  Services such as ID Secure (see www.identitytheft.com/idsecure for more information) also provide much peace of mind.  They detect the worst types of identity fraud and prevent unauthorized accounts from being opened in your name.