How did people in the past prevent identity theft? I mean before the photos and new secure technology on identity documents were available?
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Signatures were much more important. You spent time in school actually practicing/crafting your signature.
I don’t think they did. If you read old spy novels, one common method used to get a false identity is to find a birth certificate of a child that died soon after birth, and use that to apply for a passport, etc. I don’t think this would work now, and maybe it didn’t work back then, but this method is brought multiple times in old novels.
I would posit that every single person having an identity (vulnerable to theft) is a relatively modern idea. People in the past generally didnt care to verify who you said you were. Unless you had ties to royalty it really didnt matter who this peasant was compared to the next. In they eyes of society they were interchangable. Digital bank accounts, government benefits, and certified credentials being commonplace to exist in socety didnt really come into being until the 20th century. Prior to that, if your job required identification then it would be at the behest of the King or Queen to furnish it upon you. If you counterfit royal identification they’d probably just chop your head off. So thats a pretty good deterrent
Identity was largely established by witness. If you could get a handful of people to swear it was you, that was usually enough. It’s only been over the last century or so that your identity became paperwork rather than your physical self and actions.
Signatures were much more important. You spent time in school actually practicing/crafting your signature.
I would posit that every single person having an identity (vulnerable to theft) is a relatively modern idea. People in the past generally didnt care to verify who you said you were. Unless you had ties to royalty it really didnt matter who this peasant was compared to the next. In they eyes of society they were interchangable. Digital bank accounts, government benefits, and certified credentials being commonplace to exist in socety didnt really come into being until the 20th century. Prior to that, if your job required identification then it would be at the behest of the King or Queen to furnish it upon you. If you counterfit royal identification they’d probably just chop your head off. So thats a pretty good deterrent
I feel like it’s a more modern problem. Everyone in my village would know me and my family, and the economic movement of money was more contained in said village. So I’m a blacksmith and I sell horse shoes to a few other hamlets and towns right? Some highwayman bonks me over the head, steals my wares, and goes on to try and turn a quick profit with my horse shoes. First guy he goes to will realize “Hey now, this isn’t the same guy, I saw him a month ago!”
The way it was described to me by a history teacher was kind of the same concept. Don’t think the world has always operated at the same scale. If someone was to pretend to be someone else at the school (our school was 400 kids) wouldn’t you notice? Now imagine if instead of 4 years, you spent your whole life around these folks.
I’m sure it was prevalent in some ways, but as others have said seals/makers marks/brands/etc. were hard to replicate and people tended to notice when something was wrong.
I feel like it’s a more modern problem. Everyone in my village would know me and my family, and the economic movement of money was more contained in said village. So I’m a blacksmith and I sell horse shoes to a few other hamlets and towns right? Some highwayman bonks me over the head, steals my wares, and goes on to try and turn a quick profit with my horse shoes. First guy he goes to will realize “Hey now, this isn’t the same guy, I saw him a month ago!”
The way it was described to me by a history teacher was kind of the same concept. Don’t think the world has always operated at the same scale. If someone was to pretend to be someone else at the school (our school was 400 kids) wouldn’t you notice? Now imagine if instead of 4 years, you spent your whole life around these folks.
I’m sure it was prevalent in some ways, but as others have said seals/makers marks/brands/etc. were hard to replicate and people tended to notice when something was wrong.
Depends on how far back. Credit card companies used to just send you a card, and activating it was all it took to accept the offer. Shit was wild back then. Identity theft was more commonplace, yet in many ways, easier to unravel because companies didn’t have so many security layers that process it wasn’t you, so they had to take your word for it
Depends on the era.
“Before photos” is a long time ago.
But basically you kept your documents safe. Hid them well at home or if wealthy kept them in safes, and contracts/property deeds in bank vaults.
If lost, you could get a copy of your records if you brought a priest, police or other “trustworthy” person to vouch for you along with any family records to get new ones.
Bring them with you as needed.
Identity theft was extremely rare, forgery was much more common as it was also safer. There were no databases to check for small time hustles like free travel, and banking required the physical receipts they gave out.
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