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 short, there was really no way to prevent it. But there were less incentives to actually commit identity theft back then and you had to be rather motivated to actually try. Which brings me to a fun story:
My dad was 15 and walking around the streets of Jersey City in the early 50’s and stumbled on an envelope from the NJ DMV; inside was a brand new drivers license(obviously no picture on it, just a name, address and license number – he still remembers the guy’s name, but I don’t).
What does he do, well, he does what any other bored fifteen year old who lives in a Italian slum, he runs off and joins the fucking the newly founded Air Force. He just walks in with this license he found in the street and signs up as this guy. And best part THEY LET HIM!
He goes off to bootcamp and makes it 90% of the way through. This is the part that most people question whether the story is real or not, but he has his platoon photo hanging on his wall to this day.
Best part, the only reason he got caught, his parents decided to look into where he disappeared to some 6 weeks after he left.
I hope this illustrates how little was done to prevent identity theft back in the day.
I used to do CC fraud, bank fraud, and fake iDs. There were little to nothing anybody could do to protect themselves, but the good thing was CC companies and banks were much more understanding about victims and gave back the monies that were stolen as a result of id theft. That’s changed and companies no longer trust anybody so you’re screwed now
I used to do CC fraud, bank fraud, and fake iDs. There were little to nothing anybody could do to protect themselves, but the good thing was CC companies and banks were much more understanding about victims and gave back the monies that were stolen as a result of id theft. That’s changed and companies no longer trust anybody so you’re screwed now
I used to do CC fraud, bank fraud, and fake iDs. There were little to nothing anybody could do to protect themselves, but the good thing was CC companies and banks were much more understanding about victims and gave back the monies that were stolen as a result of id theft. That’s changed and companies no longer trust anybody so you’re screwed now
Commoners avoided identity theft by virtue of their identity being of no particular value. Nobles and rich merchants weren’t very numerous and tended to know each other. Also, there was a noticeable difference in habits, behaviour, manners and language depending on your social class, and rarely one could pass as someone of a higher class.
Still, identity theft did happen even among nobility and royalty. The phenomenon of pretender claimants is well known among historians, but even in those cases, the class gap was not very large. For example, there were two infamous Russian pretenders: False Demetrius and Princess Tarakanova. The former was, most likely, an ex-cleric, that is, an educated person who could pass as a noble, the latter was a noblewoman herself. Another Russian pretender claimant, Emelyan Pugachev, was very very obviously a fake, a crude rustic Cossack claiming to be Tsar Peter III, but his followers were disgruntled commoners who did want to believe.
Commoners avoided identity theft by virtue of their identity being of no particular value. Nobles and rich merchants weren’t very numerous and tended to know each other. Also, there was a noticeable difference in habits, behaviour, manners and language depending on your social class, and rarely one could pass as someone of a higher class.
Still, identity theft did happen even among nobility and royalty. The phenomenon of pretender claimants is well known among historians, but even in those cases, the class gap was not very large. For example, there were two infamous Russian pretenders: False Demetrius and Princess Tarakanova. The former was, most likely, an ex-cleric, that is, an educated person who could pass as a noble, the latter was a noblewoman herself. Another Russian pretender claimant, Emelyan Pugachev, was very very obviously a fake, a crude rustic Cossack claiming to be Tsar Peter III, but his followers were disgruntled commoners who did want to believe.
Commoners avoided identity theft by virtue of their identity being of no particular value. Nobles and rich merchants weren’t very numerous and tended to know each other. Also, there was a noticeable difference in habits, behaviour, manners and language depending on your social class, and rarely one could pass as someone of a higher class.
Still, identity theft did happen even among nobility and royalty. The phenomenon of pretender claimants is well known among historians, but even in those cases, the class gap was not very large. For example, there were two infamous Russian pretenders: False Demetrius and Princess Tarakanova. The former was, most likely, an ex-cleric, that is, an educated person who could pass as a noble, the latter was a noblewoman herself. Another Russian pretender claimant, Emelyan Pugachev, was very very obviously a fake, a crude rustic Cossack claiming to be Tsar Peter III, but his followers were disgruntled commoners who did want to believe.
I think “personal relationships” is an underrated component of this answer. They go farther than you might think.
I think “personal relationships” is an underrated component of this answer. They go farther than you might think.
I think “personal relationships” is an underrated component of this answer. They go farther than you might think.
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