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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In addition to all the logistical reasons others have said, there’s societal reasons.
Wages were higher and CoL was lower, so crime was less enticing. There were also so many easier ways to make money from crime. Selling weed used to be how millions of Americans made ends meet, but that obviously isn’t an option in places with legalized dispensaries (and those are all corporate, so the option of making money legitimately on them just isn’t there for most). Theft was easier without a thousand cameras everywhere. People carried cash, so stealing cash was way easier
Edit: Also, people used to ask for ID for cards. I don’t know the last time someone asked for my ID.
Follow up question: Before photographs, how did any criminal ever get apprehended after the crime had been committed?
Follow up question: Before photographs, how did any criminal ever get apprehended after the crime had been committed?
I got a fake ID when I was 16, just by taking an older friend’s birth certificate into the DMV. That was it. This was in Oklahoma, 1996.
You simply spent ten years in a remote prison, then kill the jailer and escape, uncover funds left behind by a deceased major criminal, draw up some nice attestations to your new name and then you are off to diplomatic functions to charm your way into army brat girl’s pants.
In addition to all the logistical reasons others have said, there’s societal reasons.
Wages were higher and CoL was lower, so crime was less enticing. There were also so many easier ways to make money from crime. Selling weed used to be how millions of Americans made ends meet, but that obviously isn’t an option in places with legalized dispensaries (and those are all corporate, so the option of making money legitimately on them just isn’t there for most). Theft was easier without a thousand cameras everywhere. People carried cash, so stealing cash was way easier
Edit: Also, people used to ask for ID for cards. I don’t know the last time someone asked for my ID.
In addition to all the logistical reasons others have said, there’s societal reasons.
Wages were higher and CoL was lower, so crime was less enticing. There were also so many easier ways to make money from crime. Selling weed used to be how millions of Americans made ends meet, but that obviously isn’t an option in places with legalized dispensaries (and those are all corporate, so the option of making money legitimately on them just isn’t there for most). Theft was easier without a thousand cameras everywhere. People carried cash, so stealing cash was way easier
Edit: Also, people used to ask for ID for cards. I don’t know the last time someone asked for my ID.
You had to be diligent in shredding/burning things and what not. The other thing to keep in mind is all these technologies that came around made it easier to do these sort of crimes. My wife had her identity stolen 16 or so years ago. She reported it to the police but they didn’t really do anything, I guess it was sort of a growing problem at the time so they didn’t have a good way to handle it, anyway she ended up making a bunch of calls and doing a bunch of research and was able to figure out who it was, she then took all that information to the police and at that point they took care of it. She also had to spend hours on the phone to get all the accounts and things closed that were opened in her name, some of those places refused to do anything without proof, typically in the form of a police report. These days you can cancel credit cards and lock accounts at the click of a button. We’ve gotten calls from our credit card company where they saw something strange that didn’t line up with our habits so they flagged it and contacted us.
You simply spent ten years in a remote prison, then kill the jailer and escape, uncover funds left behind by a deceased major criminal, draw up some nice attestations to your new name and then you are off to diplomatic functions to charm your way into army brat girl’s pants.
You simply spent ten years in a remote prison, then kill the jailer and escape, uncover funds left behind by a deceased major criminal, draw up some nice attestations to your new name and then you are off to diplomatic functions to charm your way into army brat girl’s pants.
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